Fate is Not The Boss of Me
by TheGirlWhoImagined
Summary: And my day had started out so normal too. Had I just stayed in bed it probably would have remained that way, but then again I was never one to listen to reason. My name is Echo and this is where my life gets wonky. OC/Doctor BTW Echo looks like the image on the left of course with curlier hair. RE-EDITED.
1. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try not to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show._

* * *

><p><strong>Ipswich, Massachusetts USA<strong>

**June 23, 2012**

"Oh my god, I think we lost Steve!"

I gazed over to my friend Alissa and then looked back from where we'd hurriedly escaped. "We can't go back, it's too late! There's no way we can save him Ali, he'd have wanted us to keep going," Hunter yelled as he shook the bottle blonde by the shoulders dragging her along.

Fumbling I retrieved the keys from out of the tan messenger bag strapped to my side in quick terror. I paused. Do I hear high heels? Casting a quick glance behind me I ducked in between two cars. Hiding from sight, I quietly hunched over to my orange GEO tracker. The two bickering were clueless of anyone missing from their party. The blonde jabbed a finger into Hunters chest, "We can't just leave him there to fend for himself though. Maybe we could get him out without being noticed. He's my boy friend, I love him too much to just leave him stuck in that place!"

"Alissa, would you rather it be you in there! We somehow escaped and you want to go back , who knows what other crazy things await in there! Beside why should I care it's not like I'm sleeping with him! Echo tell her we have to...Echo! Oh god she was just here, now where'd sh-"

_Now your probably wondering what the hell is going on, are we about to die, are we escaping from prison, running for our lives, well the answer to all those questions are yes, yes, and yes. But not in the way you're thinking. Now my friends and I were 'invited' (more like coerced) into the most horrid event ever, our High school reunion. So in fact I would say we are reacting rather appropriately wouldn't you agree? Alright probably not, but what can I say we're a bunch of cowards._

"Oh! There you guys are I've been looking for you," shouted a very high pitched voice. Alissa and Hunter shuttered, turning around to stare in abject horror as the owner of the voice came towards them like one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in a bright pink monstrosity, that was somehow considered _evening wear._ "Oh god, it's too late. We're doomed. You see if you had just stopped arguing and kept going we'd be in the clear," He hissed. Alissa shot him an annoyed look. "Yeah well, if we'd just gone back earlier we'd never have been caugh-Hi Jules fancy seeing you out here," she melded into a different sentence the minute the pink woman was before them. I peeked up a bit spotting the group as I attempted to silently open the car door without being noticed. My life depended on it after all.

Jules started blabbing on and on about something or other steering the reluctant pair back towards the auditorium we'd just narrowly escaped from earlier, "Then there's the hypnotist that's coming later and oh oh the cake should be getting cut soon so you guys shouldn't wander off like that. You wouldn't want to miss that now would you. Oh, we also just set up the memory slideshow! Do you remember that funny prank we pulled on the photography club in gym. Oh that was so hilarious. Their faces! Oh, wait...you guys were in that club weren't you? ...OMG, I almost forgot! Have you seen the red headed girl, the one thats always carrying that ratty old bag. You guy like hang out with her and stuff right. Cuz I always see you guys together. God, what was her name. Started with an E."

Hunter and Alissa looked back at said red head, a.k.a me, pleading with there eyes to save them, to stop the torture. And I would have to. I really would have. But I suddenly remembered a certain instance in which two friends had eaten the last cherry ices having been expressly told not to. The ones that I, and only I, buy for me! So instead of pulling some half assed heroics I just smiled, waved to them, and mouthed 'I'll never forget you' and with that jumped into the car. I really wanted to feel bad about what I was doing, but who am I kidding it was just to hilarious. Revenge is sweet! (Pun so intended)

_I bet your thinking I'm probably overreacting. It's just a High school reunion after all. But then again you all know what high school is like, and no matter how old you get or how long ago you graduated the high school dynamics never change. Let's just say my click was never really well respected or in most cases noticed. We were often the butt end of jokes. Plus, there was a new episode of Bones on that night and given the choice of reliving past high school horrors or my favorite show...sorry I'm rambling, anyway back to the beginning of my harrowing tale of woe._

Having "slowly" driven out of the parking lot I had no idea the huge life choice I had just embarked upon. Had I went back to get my friends, taken even one more second to get into the car or had casted one last glance back I would have noticed the thick fog that had begun to enshroud the school or the blue box that seemingly appeared out of thin air.

But I hadn't done any of those things, I hadn't taken the time and thus my fate had been sealed. Of course the funny thing about having ones fate sealed is that you never really know that your fate has been sealed. Because had you known you may have taken one more picture with your friends, gone to see that new batman movie you'd been looking forward to, or finally gone out with that guy your friends had been trying to set you up with even though you weren't really interested and had expressed on many occasions you don't really date. But, more importantly put your affairs in order.

But I, like most beings of the universe, couldn't foresee the future. So I'd went about my day like I'd normally would. And truth be told it was a good episode of Bones.

_It's funny how split second decisions can change your life, your perspective on the world and consequentially effect those around you no matter how insignificant you thought they were. Looking back at this I always wonder if given the choice if I'd change it. Change my future. Truth be told it had occurred once but wasn't with my consent or knowledge but I digress. Because you see my life wasn't all amazing and beautiful. Sometimes...sometimes it's just painful and hard. It's saying 'no' even when it hurts too. And saying so many goodbyes. But that's the risk we all take when running with the Doctor. That beautiful, eternal, mad, lonely, amazing Doctor. Hello, my name's Echo Adler and this is were my journey down the rabbit hole begins or should I say my journey into the time vortex._

* * *

><p>Please rate and review ^_^<p>

P.s. I'm not sure if Echo should be timelord, human plus timelord or some entirely new species, so if you could give me an answer in your reviews or vote on my poll that would be helpful, although the issue shouldn't come up until the next two chapters. Her species should be revealed so vote now. Also i made it so you can pick more than one if you can't decide.

P.p.s. my poll can be found at the top of my profile page or (if this link works) Vote Now! Current tally is 10 timelord, 7 some entirely new species, 5 human+timelord

You only have yourself to blame if you don't like the species that gets chosen if you don't vote.

A little info to help with your poll decision:

**1. If she ends up being a timelord you'll notice she doesn't have a watch so it'll be a different concept that that one to introduce her as one.**

**2. If she's a new species, well she's a new species that could make her anything, with or with out a number of abilities.**

**3. If she turns out Human+timelord her parents won't be Amy or Rory, Nor will she be River's child with some unknown male. You'll never guess who her parents are (or maybe you will with what I'm about to say) but they do exist in the Who universe. And no she won't be Roses child either. But she will be the child of one of his past companions (no its not Romana).**

Sorry this is so short it's just a prologue, I promise to make them at least **3,000** words a chapter after this.


	2. Echoes in the Fog

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

_BTW this takes place before Martha Jones but after the Donna Noble episode._

* * *

><p>A stream of afternoon light cut across a darkened bedroom as flecks of dust slowly drifted by and a faint sound of traffic permeated the silence. Somewhere a door slammed in the immediate vicinity. Which jolted this lazy occupant out of there hammock and onto the cold floor.<p>

"Hello floor," I mumbled against the hard wood. Groaning I batted a candy wrapper off my face and attempted to get up but suddenly stopped. "OH god, I'm blind! I'm-I'm-wait! Wait...never mind. Oh, thank god. False alarm."

Tossing the shirt that had temporarily obstructed my sight aside I made my way over to the door stepping on and around papers, clothes, books, and what ever else cluttered my bedroom floor. It was a pig sty at best, but it was my comfy cozy pig sty. Taking a moment to make myself semi presentable, I patted down my white tank top, straighten my duck covered PJ bottoms, hand combed my curly hair till it was satisfactory. Then with an unnecessary amount of force I opened the door.

"Goodmorni-," I tapered off. There standing in my apartment was a man. Now normally that would be fine. Seeing as two of my roomies were men, one being Hunter and the other being Steve. But this guy was neither. This guy was not a friend.

There in the middle of the living room stood a six foot tall intruder. He froze when he noticed my presence and stopped with what ever he was doing. An awkward moment seemed to pass between us as we sized the other up. Trying to figure out how to proceed.

The man in question wore a blue pin stripped suit under a long brown coat. His hair, a lovely shade of chocolate, was all sticky upy, for a brief moment I wondered if he styled it, if it was a natural occurrence, or if he stuck his finger in an electrical socket that morning. Then, that's when I saw it. My breathe hitched in my throat. There, in his hand, was a small metal object. A knife perhaps. No, that's not right. Maybe some sort of syringe. I couldn't tell as it was partially obstructed from view.

"Goodbye."

I slammed my bedroom door shut and locked it. Crap now I'm trapped. What to do, what to do. Phone! Yes I'll call for help, that's what people do in these situation call 911. Darting across the room, papers crunching underfoot, I began to throw stuff off my cluttered desk in search of said item. The man, hearing the commotion, leaned against the door and tried to fool me into opening it. "Wait wait wait. I'm not here to hurt you. You're friends let me in just-just give them a sec they'll be right back. If you could just open the door I can explain."

Yeah right, do I look that stupid. Now matter how nice his voice may sound with that sexy British accent I wouldn't be lured in. Hasn't he ever heard of stranger danger. That's exactly what some mass murder would say!My eyes widened as the door handle jiggled. Crap. Throwing a large book aside I spotted the phone laying halfway underneath a sketch book and a paint tube. Grasping the device and opening it as fast as I could, I was only met with a black screen. Dead. Double crap. And the charger? In the room with the British assailant. I'm so dead. Exactly like my phone.

Hopping from foot to foot in a panic I gazed around the bedroom. Ok, so what are my options here. Letting the assailant in and over powering him, not likely. Using an X-acto knife as a weapon? No, that would require me to get close to him. Hmm, barricade the door with my dresser? No, it opens out so that wouldn't work either. Oh come one think! What could I use. What could I use.

My eyes darted all over the mess for salvation but kept coming back to one thing. The window. Unfortunately I'm three stories up. But if I had a rope of some kind…then maybe...

Vaguely I was aware that the British guy was still taking in the background, trying to talk his way in, as I made my way to the closet. But I chose to ignore it, after all it was just the ramblings of a criminal. Opening it up, the contents sort of resembled the game of Janga, except instead of wooden blocks it was replaced with all sort of useless stuff. Well, useless till I found a use for them. My friends say that I'm a hoarder but really I'm just an artist, because you never know when you need a hubcap or a stump or a plastic santa...or a lamp...or a...ok so I'm a weird artist but I never know what I need on my next project! Don't question my artistic genius, I make money with my crap.

But my weirdness slash borderline hoarding had paid off! Because look what I had! Rope!

Carefully, I extracted it from my closet and, by some miracle or act of a higher power, managed to not cause an avalanche. Now all I had to do was find something to tie the stupid thing to. Damn.

I looked at the closet door frame and then the wall when an idea formed. I suppose I'll have to improvise. Man, the landlord is gonna be so pissed. But it's either this or choking in a pool of my own blood as brown eyes out there killed me. Which would probably cost more. Blood is harder to get out than what I'm about to do anyways. So in a way my landlord should be thanking me for saving him money. Grabbing the fish paper weight off the desk I proceeded to smash it through the wall right next to the frame with ease. I have never been more happy of the old decrepitness of the building till just then since my wall consisted of just sheet rock and paint.

Quickly tying the rope around the wooden frame, tugging at it to make sure it was fastened, I sprinted to the window and ripped it open. I gave the rope one last good tug to assure myself it was safe when an odd thing stopped me. What the hell is that sound? It's like a weird electronic buzzing. Where the hell was it coming from. It's-oh god it's coming from the other side of the door! With a panicked shiver I threw the rope out the window and crawled up onto the sill. As I was shimming out the door burst open. I froze still halfway in the room staring on in shock. What the hell, that had been locked! With a dead bolt!

"Wait! Stop! I'm with your friends. Just come back in so we can so we can have a chat. I promise I won't hurt you. It's all right."

He then paused, noticing the state of the room and looked back to me with a raised eye. All around him were scattered paintings, art supplies, piles of books, junk, a tipped over hammock, a very messy desk and now floor (not that it wasn't messy before, it just wasn't around the desk so much), empty cans of coke, my crazy closet full of more junk and walls papered with sketches from all over the place. All in all it was a sight that may make some people question my sanity. What! I'm sane...ish.

"This storage room is a mess."

"Oi," I pointed an angry finger towards the man, "You! Crazy mass murder. You come in here to try and kill me and you have the chops to dis my bedroom! You have a lot of nerve buster!"

He blinked flabbergasted, "What! Kill you! Why would I do that. I'm not here to kill you."

"Oh yeah," I rolled my eyes, "then why do you have a weapon!"

I motioned towards his hand. Following my line of sight he looked down then lifted the item up for all to see, "Oh! This. This is just a sonic screwdriver. It's good for unlocking things, thwarting evil plans and putting up the occasional cabinet. Completely harmless. See. Well, unless of course you're a bad guy...or a cabinet."

He pressed a button on the metal rod, causing a blue light to turn on at the tip, it was also accompanied by the buzzing I'd heard earlier. "So you're going to kill me with a screwdriver!"

His face scrunched in disgust at the accusation, "No! Why do you think I'm trying to kill you!"

"One you're a strange man who broke into my apartment, two I've seen your face and three everyone knows that now you, the criminal, have no choice but to kill the witness to your crime, that being me, to avoid the police and getting sent to jail," I informed counting the reason finger by finger. His mouth formed a little 'o' before he nodded his head, "Ah. I see."

"Yes, you see. Now, good bye," I smiled and continued to exit the apartment from the window. Well, that was till I heard Ali thundering in. She halted in the doorway, make-up running telling me she had been crying earlier making me feel guilty about leaving her at the reunion. And she looked about ready to cry again when her hazel eyes landed on my form, but with a shuddering swallow she held it together. Resting her hands on her hips she sent me a bemused expression, "What are you doing?"

Remembering things stood I waved her away, "Ali, get away from him he's got a weapon!"

Instead of the appropriate response to a threat the blonde didn't move. She stared conveying without so many words 'are you retarded' and then glanced at the man. "Him? Echo this is guy saved us last night I'll tell you what happened when you get back in here. It's not safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"Echo," a male voice calmly addressed me. Turning I looked over at brown eyes as he slowly approached, extending an arm. "Why don't I explain once you're inside because Ali's right, it's not safe out there."

Why the hell do people keep saying that? I mean sure I'm out a window but it's not end of the world important. This time it was my turn to give an 'are you retarded' look. I cocked my head to the side, "What do you mean by that?"

Both brown eyes and Ali looked genuinely surprised. "You mean you haven't noticed," Ali whispered. I rested my chin upon the windowsill and mumbled like a kid who's friends were keeping secrets, "Noticed what?"

"The metal men roaming the streets," she stated in a hushed voice. An awkward silence seemed to enshroud the room with the confession. Well, that was till I broke it. "You're shitting me right now, right? Trying to get back at me for ditching you with Jules last night. Well, it won't work! I can't believe how low you'd go, I mean to use that topic. The Hell."

"You language! And shh keep your voice down and get in here," brown eyes scolded still ushering me in. somehow he'd snuck closer when i hadn't noticed. Rolling my eyes I quipped back, "The language I'll have you know is English. I won't keep my voice down since this is my room and I'm only coming in because this is becoming slightly uncomfortable since I'm still in my PJ's."

That's right I was taking the high road people. Toppling back into the room, with grace and dignity (not), brown eyes gave me a slightly bemused look as he pulled me up. Dusting myself off I pulled in the rope and shut the window.

Only then did I realize how quiet it was outside, along with the sudden lack of traffic and people. How did I not notice that? And was that fog rolling in down Market St.! I blinked a couple of times to see if I was imagining things. Did I really wake up or is this some kind of horror movie. Am I on scaretactics? Because if I am I'll be pissed. I've been trying to sign up Hunter on that for over a year now. And if he got me first...

"Why are you still in your Jim jams?"

Snapping back to reality I walked past brown eyes and into the living room, "Because. I just woke up."

"What! But it's five in the afternoon," He gawked incredulously. I scoffed dancing around the coffee table and soda cans, "Yeah and I just woke up! So what!"

He waved his hands into the air, "But till five in the afternoon!"

"So! I sleep when I'm bored and I usually stay up until seven in the morning," I defended. "Till five!"

"Why are you getting so hung up on this. I like to sleep. So I slept till five. So what. I don't see what the big deal is."

"You're just sleeping your whole life away," He frowned, his expression filled with some indiscernible sadness. I shrugged like it were no big deal, "So, got nothing better to do. Life's slow and boring."

He was about to retort when Ali cut him off. "Doctor I think now is hardly the time to talk about Echo's sleeping habits. Plus she'll argue forever just because."

"Right. Yes! Of course, " he sputtered. Brown eyes, who I now know to be called the 'Doctor', grabbed my hand while he headed for the door. I tried to yank it back out of his grip but he wasn't about to let go. "Wait. Wait. Wait! I can't leave just yet."

"Right, no, I suppose I said there'd be an explanation," the Doctor tapped his sonic to his face in thought before taking action and moving forward once more, "Wellll, once you're in the car all will be revealed as you humans say."

Almost managing to rip my hand from his I shook my head, "No. No that's not it, well it is, but that's not what I'm getting at."

"Oh! Right of course, I haven't properly introduce myself," He rambled. Finally letting go he turned, extended his other hand to me and smiled. "Hello, I'm the doctor."

I grabbed it and shook it enthusiastically, "Yes, hello I'm Echo. Echo Adler. But again you're not letting me finish. I'm not wearing any shoes."

As if to prove my point I wiggled my toes on the floor. He looked down, "Oh right! Sorry busy day. Go on, put on your shoes."

He waved me off as I walked over to the door slipping on some flip flops. Then he got a look at my chosen footwear, "Those aren't shoes."

"No," I agreed, "there flip flops and before you ask I prefer these because I don't like to wear socks. And no I'm not putting on shoes without socks because then I'll get a blister."

"Yes but you can't run in them."

"But we're going to be in a car, thus I won't have to run. But, if you insist on running a marathon to the car I'll happily oblige by booking it bare foot," I smiled triumphantly. His mouth gaped open like a fish as he tried to articulate a response, then he broke out into a goofy grin. "Oh, I like you. Got an answer for everything I bet."

"Thanks, just about. Not sure how I feel about you yet," I couldn't help but smile back at him. He just had that effect. Someone cleared their throat pulling me back to reality yet again. In the door way stood Hunter with arms crossed over his chest and a smug grin plastered across his stupid face. "If you two are done flirting, I think it's about time we leave. Fogs rolling in," he gestured behind him. Ali started quietly laughing into her hand at the look on my face. Which I'm guessing was a mixture of embarrassment and shock yet also a quiet panic mixed in there.

"I'm-we're-I'm not flirting," I huffed. Hunter chuckled. "Sure. Sure. You unconscious tease."

By now Ali was in a laughing fit at the funny face I'm sure I was definitely making. "I am not," I tried to yell but instead it came across as a high pitched squeak. I could feel my face getting hotter. I must've looked like a tomato by now. Glancing over at the Doctor to explain that I wasn't, that I just enjoyed bickering for the sake of bickering, I noticed he was no longer there. Everyone did.

"Are you all coming or just going to wait till the cybermen pop in," the Doctors voice echoed from outside in the hallway. You could hear him making his way down the stairs. Ali and Hunter looked freaked for a moment and hurriedly rush after him. I on the other hand took my sweet ass time. So I crossed the room to retrieve my tan bag from the coffee table. Never leave home without it, just like I wore the same ring on my finger. After all I never know when the drawing bug will bite me. Plus, I have all sort of other nifty stuff in it. Like I said I'm an artist. Shush. Don't laugh at me.

"Echo, today please," Hunter shouted up the stair well. With a huff I locked the apartment and made my way down into the parking lot. I would either get to the bottom of this stupid practical joke or realize I'd mistakenly walked into the twilight zone. I wasn't sure which outcome was more promising. Neither probably.

Once outside though, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. It was way too quiet for 5 o'clock. The lot, now empty apart from Steve's Honda, was giving off a major creepy vibe. Especially since it was surrounded by tall buildings with only two ways in or out, one of which was now cover by thick fog. It was like looking at a giant wall of puffy white erasing the world. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I got a feeling that getting stuck in it would be a bad idea. It just seemed...off.

Steve, the lumbering lanky oaf, honked the horn jolting me back to earth. He waved his hand out the window, "Hey space cadet! Let's go before the fog reaches the car!"

Languidly I jumped into the back seat with Hunter and Ali, once buckled, Steve peeled out like a teenager who just got their drivers permit. In the front the Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver to and fro with a serious face. Guess he won't be talking. So seeing that he was busy I turned to Ali for explanation. "So what happened last night? After I left to go home."

My friend swallowed, clasping her hands tightly over her lap. "Yeah about that. After you ditched us to Jules, which was very funny by the way ha ha, we were dragged back into the reunion and for a couple hours of mind melting boredom. Then this guy," she pointed to the Doctor, "comes bursting in telling us we need to blockade the auditorium. So of course Jules walks right up to him in a huff and gives him the equivalent of a verbal vasectomy for ruining the memory slideshow she was 'narrating'. And then he's all like 'Oi you listen! I don't have time for you're shit! There are lives at stake here woman!'"

"Oi, I didn't say that! Nor do I sound like that," the man paused in his task affronted by the poor portrayal. She rolled her eyes and shoved a finger to his lips, effectively shushing him. "Listen I'm paraphrasing here, I didn't catch most of what you said because you were talking a mile a minute, now quiet! I'm telling the story. Just go back to playing with your stick thingy. Any who where was I…"

The Doctor pouted but didn't say anything. With a huff he went back to waving the screwdriver around. "Right," she turned back to me her golden locks whipped into Hunters face. He grimaced spitting them out of his mouth.

"Next thing we see are these metal men coming into the room. Half of us are thinking this is part of some show or act that Jules hired but the other half recognize what they were from a couple years ago, when we had that ghost robot invasion, so they're freaking. Then anyone that wasn't scared before is when one of the robots grabs Jules after scanning her and electrocutes her, after that everyones panicking and rushing out the doors. Only there's this thick fog. The Doctor yelled at us to stay out of it, but it's too late. Almost everyones run outside. Then the screaming suddenly stopped. It got really quiet after that. It was just us and a few others then. The fogs like some sort of...um-," she choke off as her emotions go the better of her, tears starting to swell. The Doctor picked up where she left off, "It's not really a fog per-say but more of an aerated acidic bioweapon that breaks down specific DNA markers only found in the human genome reducing them to genetic pulp. But if calling it a fog helps by all means."

I stared wide eyed gripping my bag tightly. This has got to be a whined up. It was then I started looking for hidden camera's in the car, searching under the seats their pockets. This seems way too much like a movie or a set up. "What are you looking for," Hunter asked, watching with his almond shaped greens. I lifted up the middle compartment peering inside it, "Hidden camera's, microphones or something to indicate you guys have set me up on some kind of show. Is Tracy Jordan hiding in the back some where waiting to pop out?"

The Doctor gives me a sympathetic look, shaking his head, "Sorry it's not a show."

"So then why is the fog just getting to the apartment," I crossed my arms defensive, not wanting to believe it, "Wait, why did you come to the apartment. Not that I'm complaining mind you but I would think you'd assume I was you know...dead."

"We did," Ali sniffled, the tears she'd been holding breaking free, the crystal droplets falling off her chin, "but the Doctor explained that the machine they're using to pump out the fog is generating a time distortion as a side effect, something to do with the fuel, and that there might be the slight chance you drove out before it got to you. First chance we got after finding a safe place for everyone else I made the boys drive over to check to see if you were still... So it took a day for it to catch up to you but it's only been an hour or so for us. I guess... I guess the distortion is supposed to be like a bubble of sorts and it's expanding outwards and...and"

By the time Ali finished she the few tears had turned into a waterfall. Awkwardly I reached over to give a hug and in a weak effort to comfort her rubbed her arm. "Shhhh. It's ok. See, I'm fine. You can't get rid of me that easily," I smiled at her. "I suppose not since you're stupid lucky," she laughed into my shoulder sniffing before pulling away. Thank god she stopped crying. I'm not trying to be mean, but I don't know what I would have done. I'm not good with comforting crying people and I always feel like an A-hole when I try. Not that I don't feel empathy, it's just not my strong suit.

Clearing my throat I garnered attention, "So we're looking for their base or something?"

The Doctor awkwardly positioned his head to respond, "Wellll, it's more of a hideout. You see last time I faced them they were destroyed, finished, kaput. Yet here they are! Still alive. And from the energy readings I got from them earlier suggests they fashioned themselves a makeshift rift manipulator dropping them off here. But, the more important question is why haven't they moved on. Why stay here? Why use a bioweapon to kill off potential troops? What's so important about here? If we could only find out where they've holed-wait! Stop the car."

Steve slammed his foot on the brake. Four heads smacked against the seats. I was about to protest till I realized why. The fog was blocking the street access ahead. To my left the same image met me as it swallowed all the colorful and old timey little shops and bakeries. Behind us more fog crept along. "Well that's not good," Hunter grumbled. Damn we're trapped.

"Lucky for us, I now know where they've holed up," the Doctor gestured to the elementary school to the right. Getting out of the car, the doors shutting with an echo into the silence, we made our way up the lawn to the entrance. Winthrop Elementary. Hunter and I laughed as Ali and Steve groaned. The Doctor looked at us perplexed, "What?"

"Hunter and I went to school here. That's all. Oh, the memories. Story time in the library, imaginary adventures on the playground, the giant food fight of 97', the last day beach party and my personal favorite, the cake walk."

Hunter had a nostalgic look at the fond memories, he sighed fondly. We both smiled at each other. Good times. Good times. The Doctor's brow scrunched in confusion, "What's a cake walk?"

Ali and Steve groaned again. I snorted and stuck my tongue at the spoiled sports, "Oh, you two are just upset because you went to Doyon on the other side of town. So you didn't get to join in on the festivities. Hunter would you care to explain?"

He smiled, chest puffing, "Basically every year there's a fair for the students where you play games for prizes. The cake walk is musical chairs except instead of chairs there were cones. When you win you get to pick a cake to take home from the prize table, thus the cake walk. But can you imagine being five and winning a whole cake! That was boss!"

The Doctor mouthed the words 'boss' trying it out but shook his head aparently thinking better of it as he waved his sonic at the main entrance. A residual click was heard and it popped open. I blinked watching the doors slowly open with the wind, "Wait did you're screwdriver just open that door! I knew I locked my room!" Steven leaned over and whispered something to Ali. They giggled. In mock anger I pointed a finger towards them, "Don't make fun of me. I remember things...most of the time!"

"You all might what to hurry up, the fogs creeping up fast," the Doctor called from inside. Our group loked at each other and quickly entered, slamming the doors shut behind us. Not that it would do to much good, not exactly air tight.

Taking a step further into the darkness the place was just as I'd remembered. The walls were still an obnoxious bright orange, with magenta tiled floors, a mural re-painted by the third graders every year, the principles office was on the left and the cafeteria was to the right, plus the odd smell of pine sol and must. It was nice to be back. Except now in light of the situation, the nostalgic feeling it inspired even with the ominous overtone hanging around, combined with being dimly lit, empty halls, sent chills down my spine. I'm still waiting for someone to yell 'are you scared? well you should be, you're on scaretactics'.

As we made our way down the corridor, no tracy jordan in sight, I started opening random doors. It was mostly just the empty class rooms left behind for the summer break. Nothing to disconcerting. "So what are we looking for Doctor," I asked shutting another one.

"Anything that looks out of place or time. Like a transmat, a cyber mat, maybe a secret door, alien technology, you know the general things that don't belong in grade school."

Continuing on our sweep of the building Ali and Hunter stayed back talking in hushed tones behind us. The conversation seemed quite intense. I shot Steve a raised eyebrow as if he might know what they were discussing, but he just shrugged, aparently just as out of the loop as I was. Though I do keep forgetting the other two had some history. Maybe the current situation is dredging up old feeling or something. I thought they'd moved on, after all Ali's dating Steve now and I they were doing well. Unless I missed something. Which is quite possible since I'm always in my head and not really paying attention to the world around me, or pick up on relationship problems. After this I think I need to expand my social activities, staying at home in my room all day is looking more depressing than usual.

Steve turned away, choosing to ignore them, though I could tell by the tight expression marring his angular features he wasn't happy. So to take his mind off his feelings he started taking to the Doctor. "So, what do you think there doing here anyway? After all like you said there's nothing really special about this place. Not that I'm say Ipswich is a bad place to live, after all the crime rate here is really low, haven't had a murder in ninety-five years. And we have lovely scenery and beaches."

The Doctor paused, his sonic no longer buzzing, and turned his head to answer. "Well, they're probably looking for something. Like a weapon that fell through time, a ship maybe, it could be any assortment of things really. We won't know until we find it."

Seizing the moment to be funny and possibly lighten the dark mood, I wiggle my fingers at Steve in a silly low voice, "Or someone."

The Doctor abruptly stiffened, eyes moving back and fourth over some imaginary math problem. Adjusting my shoulder strap I opened the next door to find just another utilities closet. However when I went to close it shut the Doctor interrupted me with his shout of excitment, causing me to jump five feet in the air. "Oh! That would make sense. That's why they weren't upgrading! Because who ever they're looking for wouldn't survive it. Oh, Echo Adler you are brilliant," he smiled. A smile I was beginning to like. Leaning a hand on the door I waved the other in the air, "Finally somebody notices my brilliance!"

Each of my friends rolled their eyes at my antics, used to the fact that if given a chance I'll make light of a situation. It's a coping mechanism I know but it's the only one I have. Of course my train of thought wasn't on the same path as his so I paused to ask, "Wait. Why am I brilliant?"

"Because there not looking for something, there looking for someone. But, then why use the bioweapon? Why kill the humans. Unless," he trailed off taking a couple steps forward before standing in a contemplative pose. Of course, I noticed he kept using the word human, like he's not one. But I shrug it of due to the fact I have friends who have said weirder things. Like renaming themselves Shitkicker.

Before I realized, a light bulb seemed to go off in that his head. Cause next thing I knew he shouted once more. "Unless...oh! Unless what there looking for isn't human at all, and there not looking for me. I just got here. In which case," the Doctor trailed off. He turned around to look at the rest of us. "What," we asked. the implications were there but no one said it as it was ridiculous. Well almost no one. The Doctor's eyes roamed over each of us, "In which case one of you must not be human."

I felt like my eyebrows had just shot off my face. He's kidding right? I mean we've all know each other since we were ankle bitters. Heck we were in the same after-school daycare. Yet, suddenly, I felt every eye come to rest upon me. Turning each friend stared at me with a skeptical face, "What? Oh, it could just as easily be any of you!"

"Yes, but none of us are adopted," Hunter reminded, unconsciously taking a step back. It seemed my other two friends had the same idea and pain squeezed at my heart. Did they think I would hurt them if I was. Quietly I squeezed the door and glared at each. "So, Ali doesn't know who her biological father is. Steve's very secretive. Hunter you're family has government jobs, how do we know they're not into some area 51 crap. How do you know none of you are the alien? And what about the other people that you said survived, what about them, hmmm," I pointed out, voice only raised slightly. Hunter re-stepped forward back to his original spot, "yeah but it was a little convenient that you left just as the fog rolled in."

As a huge argument was about to break out the Doctor immediately stepped in. "Alright. Calm down, calm down. No need to make a fuss. I can figure out who it is with my screwdriver and then we can be done with it."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably but nodded in agreement, refusing to look at anyone else. Waving his sonic he began with Hunter, it emitted that buzzing noise before he then flicked it open, "Nope. 100% human."

He glided over to Ali next when suddenly the lights shut off, the darkness swallowed us save the Doctor who was barely illuminated with a blue glow from the tip of his device. Ali screamed and the boys started freaking out. The Doctor tried calming them down but it wasn't working. Over their loud noise a strange sound echoed from the darkness. "Hey shut it," I shouted, "Do you hear that? I think somethings coming."

All at Once the hall quieted, and I swore I heard something moving in the ether, time ticked by for a second before the sound returned. It was almost like big mechanical feet. Before any deductions could be made sudden a force knocked me into the closet. I tried regaining my balance, but I accidentally ended up shutting the door instead. The momentum caused my head to smack against the wall. And the last thing my conscious mind heard was everyone letting out a shrill shriek that faded away.

* * *

><p>When I came too, I had no idea how long I'd been out. The only thing I knew was that my head felt like there was a bunch of jackhammers going off in it. Also there was a ringing in my ear. Ow, a little disorientating. So logic concluded I was either still in the dark closet or I was really blind this time. Searching around I bumped into a bunch of stuff till I felt a string hit my face and pulled it. Ok not blind. Phew.<p>

Right, so I'm in a closet. Ha! Joking aside I pushed the door open slightly, peeking out. The dim lighting was back on, however no one was around. Opening it up fully I spotted the Doctors sonic lying forgotten on the floor. Crap. That probably didn't bode well. Where'd everyone disappear to?

Quickly searching around the closet shelves I pocketed a small LED flash light in case the lights went wonky again. Tip toeing out and over to grab the sonic screwdriver I decided to check the basement. Probably not the safest idea but everyone knew that that's usually where the bad guys hide. It's evil doer 101 I believe.

Thankfully the staircase to it isn't that far. I have to say that making it down to the basement was rather easy, not that I'd say it aloud as I might jinx myself and then I'd be screwed, but I'm glad nothing popped out at me. I hate it when things do that. It's why I've never finished playing dead space 2. I have nightmares from that game now. Thanks EA.

SHhhck! I jumped suddenly when I heard the loud noise. It sounded like a large rock sliding against another rock. Panicking I hid behind a boiler. To my luck it wasn't on. Loud metal foot steps passed by so I canted my head to get look at what it was and for the first time in a long time I catch a glimpse of something I thought I'd never see again. Even though it looked badly damaged I would recognize it anywhere. Cybermen. The murderers who had stole everything from me. I don't know why but when Ali mentioned them before it just didn't click till now. I don't think I wanted to believe it. There was to much pain associated with that word. My eyes began to water and I quickly wiped at them, stamping down on the emotions that threatened to well up. I had to save my friends, so now wasn't the time to break down. Besides nothing I do will ever bring back what I lost. Yet, no matter how much time passed, the anguish never seemed to fade.

Taking a moment to collect myself before gathering my wits I soundlessly and stealthily skulked towards the direction the robots had come from. Moving around a corner I saw a large stone door starting to close, most like where they had come from. I speed up to quickly slip inside before it closed. A large bang let me know I was successfully locked in. Great now I'm trapped in their base. Somehow I can see this blowing up in my face. Ooh that rhymed. Right, need to calm down, the possibility of death is starting to make me jittery.

The interior of said base appeared to be set to the theme of rock meets steampunk meets evil genius on a budget. All sorts of metal tubing and gears were running in and out of the walls, some sort of white substance running through them. Since there was only one way I could walk I followed the tubes down the long narrow passageway till it opened up into a larger more spacious room. Which it would have to be since in that large room was a massive generator of epic portions with all that tubing running into it. There are wheels and buttons and gauges all over that I have no clue as to what they do. It beeped and hissed from pressure, and emitted a noise deafening like a pump in a flooded basement. This must be the generator they were talking about. I could feel the heat radiating off it.

As I pondered the next move on how to continue this rescue mission I somehow heard people yelling over the din. Walking towards the sound I came to a large glass window, the door next to it locked. But I wasn't paying attention to that as behind the window was something breath stealing. And not in the good way.

Before me was a rundown laboratory. The circular room in question resembled something out of a mad scientist movie. In the middle of the room lay an operating table with the Doctor strapped onto it. He looked furious, but otherwise unharmed. Though I surmised not for long since there were a bunch of robotic hands, saws and other devices above him attached to the ceiling. To the left of table, against the wall, was a large glass container with Ali, Hunter, and Steve trapped inside. They were banging against the glass shouting, panicking about something above them. Following their line of sight I spotted more tubing that ran back to the generator, opening into the container. Oh god, the cybermen are going to siphon in the gas! It'll kill who ever's human.

Before the glass window were two cybermen, just as badly damaged as the others, their backs turned to me as they were manning the controls. "You can't do this! You killed all those other people when they did nothing to you. You'd kill them too. And for what," the Doctor bellowed struggling with his restraints. "A plan was devised to change the fate of the battle. We only need change the fate of one," the cyberman on the right spoke. "No one here would be able to do that. You're too late, I sent you all back into the void years ago. You're too far ahead to change that. The battle has been long since lost!"

"We do not speak of the battle of canary warf," it electronically stated. The Doctor frowned, "What? Then where have you come from?"

"The battle. The battle in which the child of origin falls at the beginning of all things."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

It didn't answer him. "Begin the process," the mechanical voice of the left one states. I banged against the glass, "No!"

They turn around, "Intruder detected, Intruder."

"Echo Run," the door unlocked as they advanced. Crap...wait! I have his sonic screwdriver, which is supposed to be good at making cabinets...and-and thwarting evil plans! Yes! Lets test out that theory. Maybe if I point it at the generator something good will happen. With speed I never knew I had I turned to the generator pressing the button on the screwdriver. It starts buzzing but it didn't do anything. The cybermen are almost upon me now. I started frantically waving it at the machine. The Doctor yelled at me to leave, "What are you doing, run!"

Click. A sudden spark burst forth from the generator as an intercom voice rung out over the noise, "P3X90 diverted. P3X90 diverted. Emergency over fill pipe opened. Emergency over fill pipe opened."

I gulped turning my attention up as the chute unlatched above me, oh monkey nuts. Of course the over fill pipe happens to be located in here. In this specific room. Who the hell designed this place! An idiot! Hmm, I'm probably forgetting something. Oh, right. The cybermen approaching me.

Dashing around there outstretched arms, managing to avoid their grasp, I raced into the lab down over to the Doctor. He looked up at me with confusion, "What did you do?"

I smiled and held up his screwdriver, waving it between my fingers, "Oh you know, made a cabinet or two, maybe thwarted an evil plan by messing with there generator. You know nothing to big."

He laughed as I handed it to him. Swiftly he unlocked himself he leapt up, sliding off the table. Using those long legs of his he ran up to the controls. "Echo, you need to get into the tank with your friends till the air philters kick in to get rid of the biochemical. And don't worry about the cybermen, I've got a handle it."

I was about to ask something when one of them walked up to the Doctor, a ray gun of some sort aimed at him. He barely had time to react. By some sort of miracle a synaptic nerve must have been extra fast on my part as I dove into my bag pulling out a can of coke. One I was planning on drinking later, but it had a more nobler use right now. See I carry nifty things in here after all. Shaking it I prayed, aimed, and sprayed it all over the exposed wiring in their chests.

To my luck it actually worked, they started to fizz, spark and flail about, their legs starting to give as they fell back. Unfortunately that was all my luck was able to gain me as one shot a laser beam into the controls, no longer having proper motor function of it's arm. "No, no, no, no," the Doctor yelled as he hit the controls, a large whole now in it. "Why did you do that," he rounded on me, like it were my fault the robot shot it. I scoffed with disbelief, "It was going to kill you! What did you want me to do!"

"Let me deal with it! Because now I can only open the tank. It won't let me close it. I can't let you in," he trailed off. His eyes suddenly lost their anger melting into a deep sadness. He appeared much older in that moment.

"Oh." I really shouldn't have woken up this morning. I turned to my friends, they all looked so worried. I don't think they could hear what what was being said, but they could tell something was wrong. There shouting started up again as the fog began to drift in. I turned back and watching them yell, I tried to send a reassuring smile but instead it came across as a grimace. I could feel a lump forming in my throat. This might be the last time I see them. And them me.

I suddenly found myself wrapped up in a hug. "I'm so, so sorry," he whispered against my head. Damn now my eyes were starting to get blurry. Deciding that this might be my last moments alive I wrapped my arms tightly around him. He smelled nice. I suppose if I had to hug anyone before I died he wasn't to bad a choice. After all there was no Benedict Cumberpatch insight. "Just to let you know before I, you know kick the bucket and all, there are two more cybermen upstairs. Don't want them catching you all by surprise. After all I don't want to be seeing any of you guys to soon," I chuckled trying to make light of the situation but I don't think it quite worked. Pulling away I wiped my eyes and gave a weak smile, he mirrored it with one of his own. "Don't worry," he assured, "the cyberman who shot the controls fixed that problem."

I would have asked what he meant, but I was interrupted when I heard my friends pounding against the glass harder, the fog was nearly upon us. Since this was most likely the end I walked over to them, attempting to smile once more. I placed a hand on the glass. They screamed, cried, and hammered harder against the container. With out looking away from them I asked the Doctor for one last request. "Tell them to not be sad for long. Ok."

Oh great, my last moments alive and I have to say something corny. Staring at each of them, I remember all the good times we had together, all the funny ones, all the boring ones, all the weird ones and even the sad ones. I stop on Ali. By the look on her face I can tell the fogs about caught up. I give her one more lingering smile. And with that, as to not make this any longer then it had to be, I jumped back into it. Surrounded by white choking nothingness I breathed deep and waited for death.

Of course, the funny thing about today was that it would seem my appointments were canceled, since death appeared to busy and fate apparently had other plans. Cause next thing I knew the fog was being sucked out the air vents as I hacked up a storm.

What can I say, even I was surprised to be alive. But, that left me with a whole new set of problems. I was an alien, it was the only explanation for my not being dead. I was so sure that I was human. I'm not sure if I liked the prospect of death over not being human. Juries gonna be out on that one for a while. The tank opened up with a shk. Immediately Ali rushed over and slapped me, then pulled me into the biggest bone crushing hug I've ever received.

"You slapped me. Why'd you slap me!" I grabbed my cheek in pain. That hurt! "Don't you ever do that again," Ali cried. "I don't think I can. That would require a time machine, which I don't have by the way, and I don't think your supposed to mess with your own past. Thats what all sci-fi movies say and-" but I was cut off as Steve and Hunter join in. "All right group hug. I do love group hugs, but lets rotate this group hug out of here. Come on rotate, rotate."

I tried in vain to get them to move, wiggling in the middle of the circle. However they appeared to be glued to the spot. "All right, I love you guy's too, but lets blow this pop sickle stand before it blow us."

As if on cue a self destruct countdown began. I groaned. They all glowered at me. "What! I didn't touch nothing! I was hugging you guys!"

"Sorry. That was me," the Doctor waved from the controls, "Couldn't let someone stumble upon this place so it had to be destroyed. Now everybody out!"

* * *

><p>We all booked it out of their like rats from a ship and to my credit I wasn't the last one out of the building even though I was sportin' flip flops. Looks like Steve needs to hit the gym! Suckah! Just as we made it to the doors of the Honda the ground shook and the school exploded raining flaming bits everywhere.<p>

We all stared at the school, then to each other and jumped into the car and drove away, speeding through the intersections and roads. We weren't taking the blame for that! After all the time distortion was gone so half the town would soon realize the other half was missing almost all its residents and the school was gone with them. They're gonna think we did it aren't they. I'm don't want to be passed around for cigarettes! However, despite the situation I started laughing. Every one just gave me a weird face so I explained. "Oh, come one don't give me that look. Every kid wants to blow up their school, I finally sort of got to by association after all these years."

A chorus of laughter rang out and once it had finally settled down, we had reach the high school. After all it wasn't that far away from the elementary. The Doctor was the first out of the car, "I suppose I should get going before UNIT shows up."

He leaned against the car to look at us, smiling at each face. "Yeah I suppose you do," Steve grinned. Everyone was so happy about it being over but it only created a knot in the pit of my stomach. I gripped my bag and twist it about nervously on my lap. What's going to happen to me now. Am I going to end up in some lab. What am I to do. Do I bring it up? Should I bring it up? Out of the corner of my eye I glanced at my friends. I suppose I should be fine, it's not like they'd rat me out. It'll just become some sort of new quirk of mine we can all laugh about. I'm no different right? But they had backed away from me when they thought I might be an alien. What if they can't stand to be around me anymore because of it.

"-cho, Echo!"

I jolted out of my thoughts and pivoted towards to the Doctor who had been trying to gain my attention. Everyone peered at me worriedly. "Yes?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Huh? Oh sure. Go ahead."

I waited for a response, just staring at him. He just watched me for a couple of seconds waiting for something before he finally cleared his throat, "Alone?"

"Oh. Oh! Right, sorry of course!"

I slipped out of the car following him further into the parking lot, till we were standing next to a blue box. "So…" I trailed off, not sure of his motives. I looked away to examine the ground. Crap, I wonder if he's gonna lock me up in some facility that housed aliens or send me to jail or kill me or something. Dammit why won't he talk, it's freaking me out! As the silence continued, my nervousness increased, absentmindedly I gripped the shoulder strap on my bag tightly. He finally spoke, "Echo-"

"Please, please, please don't send me to some obscure government facility where they study aliens. I swear to you I honestly didn't know that I was one till today. I mean my whole life I thought I was human. I was even adopted by a nice old lady from the orphanage when I was five. I watch day time TV. Eat junk food. Go to the beach. I do all the things a normal human would do! I swear I'm not planning on world domination, well except maybe dominating the world of warcraft but thats totally different, and it's not like I'm planing the destruction of the earth or-"

The Doctor put his hands on each side of my face tilting it up so I'm was looking at him. He smiled, "Don't worry I wouldn't do that,I'm not exactly human myself, I just wanted to ask you something."

Deflating I nodded my head, "O-ok."

"Seeing as you saved me and all, I was going to extend to you a limited time offer of one free ride in the TARDIS. What do you say?"

"What's a TARDIS?"

His face fell comically for a brief moment, but then bounced right back to being happy, "I suppose it did ask for that. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's my spaceship. Welll, technically it's more than just a spaceship."

"Wait...are you saying you have a time traveling spaceship," never have I been more glad that I'm a secret sci-fi geek or I wouldn't have had a clue as to what he meant. His smile grew, glad that I picked up on the terminology pretty quickly, "Yep!"

"Well where is it then," I asked looking around the parking lot for a spaceship. Maybe it was cloaked. "Right behind me," he pointed. I stared at the blue police box when a thought occurred. "Oh…"

"What?"

I looked down at my clothes and shifted self-consciously just noticing my attire. "I'm kind of still in my PJ's."

He looked down and then up, "Not to worry you can help yourself to the wardrobe."

"Cool. Um...could you just give me a sec. I'll be right back," I asked before running back to my friends awaiting in the car. Thankfully it didn't take me more than a couple of minutes to explain what was going on. And my friends being my friends understood, each giving me a heart felt hug and goodbye. Well, almost.

"So your just gonna go just like that. What if something happens. I worry about you. You're always stuck in that head of yours that you don't see what's in front of you," Ali mumbled against my shoulder. "It's just one trip. Beside did you totally not just see me kick robot butt back there, in my PJ's of all things. I think I'll be fine," I grinned stepping back. I could tell she wanted to brooch the subject of my being an alien, but I rather not. I don't think I can handle that information just yet. So I'm just going to deny it ever came out.

"Don't worry I'll see you soon, after all it's a time machine. I could be back before supper," I assured, waving while jogged back to the Doctor. I smiled standing before him, "Alright, all ready to go."

He grinned back opening the doors behind him, "Then Echo I welcome you to the TARDIS."

With a tentative step I entered, dropping my bag almost immediately to the floor. "Holy crap! When you say dimension you really mean dimension. Here I thought it was just a really small ship," I let out a wolf whistle, " This place is amazing! It's like a whole 'nother world wrapped inside my favorite color!"

I open my arms wide in emphasis. He closed the doors and rushed over to the console in the middle. I couldn't even to begin to describe how beautiful this place is. The large winding coral pillars spiraled up to the steampunk ceiling, with its wires looping all over the place. A large tube in the middle shot down into the console full of knobs, buttons, levers, bells and a bunch of other odds and ends. Pity it's only the one trip, but I'll take it. He grinned from over the bronzed console. "So anywhere in the universe. Where do you want to go? Forwards, backwards, or random."

Now there was a hard question. I thought about it for a moment. If I had to pick, it might take me forever and I have a feeling even though we were in a time machine the Doctor couldn't wait that long. He was already Bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Well, before we get out of the TARDIS I'll have to change, but before that I'll have to say…random!"

"Random it is! Here we go, hold on tight!"

And with that the room began to shake and spin as I clutched the railings for dear life. Seemingly all my worries just seemed so far away and I couldn't help but smile. I'm so glad I woke up today.

* * *

><p>Please rate and review ^_^<p>

P.s. I'm not sure if Echo should be timelord, human plus timelord or some entirely new species, so if you could give me an answer in your reviews or vote on my poll that would be helpful, although the issue shouldn't come up until the next two chapters. Her species should be revealed so vote now. Also i made it so you can pick more than one if you can't decide.

P.p.s. my poll can be found at the top of my profile page or (if this link works) Vote Now! Current tally is 10 timelord, 7 some entirely new species, 5 human+timelord

You only have yourself to blame if you don't like the species that gets chosen if you don't vote.

A little info to help with your poll decision:

**1. If she ends up being a timelord you'll notice she doesn't have a watch so it'll be a different concept that that one to introduce her as one.**

**2. If she's a new species, well she's a new species that could make her anything, with or with out a number of abilities.**

**3. If she turns out Human+timelord her parents won't be Amy or Rory, Nor will she be River's child with some unknown male. You'll never guess who her parents are (or maybe you will with what I'm about to say) but they do exist in the Who universe. And no she won't be Roses child either. But she will be the child of one of his past companions (no its not Romana).**

NEXT EPISODE: Smith and Jones


	3. Smith and Jones

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

* * *

><p>"This isn't going to work."<p>

Big blue eyes stared back with nothing to add. Jaw length curls framed the face they belonged to, their red coloring causing them by effect to appear even larger. Of course seeing as it was my reflection I suppose it wouldn't have had anything to say. If it did I might be worried. I never imagined I'd be faced with such a harrowing decision so soon. How could I ever possibly choose. How could anyone choose! It just wasn't right. This is impossibly impossible.

Do I pick the yellow tank top that says 'What's up Doc!' or do pick the blue one that says 'zombies hate fast food'. Hmm choices choices. Oh what the heck I'll do it the old fashioned way. Enie meanie minie mo.

And the yellow one it is! I wondered what the Doctor would say when he saw it. Crossing to the other side of the huge wardrobe I went to a wall filled with just coats. Coats of all colors, styles and sizes. I still couldn't get my head around how epically huge this room was. It's like I walked into another world. The world of clothes! I'm usually not one to care about clothes, after all I only had four pairs of pants, but this place was so flippin' amazing. How could I resist!

There was a spiraled stair case in the middle to get to higher levels as they spiraled up to what looked like infinity. The wardrobe it's self was sort of similar to the console room. It had long tall thin bonze columns snaking there way up, although a few articles of clothing were haphazardly thrown onto them. As for the bronze walls they were covered in little octagonal windows all symmetrically lined up. Of course some appeared to be lights instead of windows. Now that I think about it they probably were all lights, just not all them were on.

Something red out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and so I turned to investigate. Now this looks promising. Grabbing it off the hanger I examined the article of clothing. It sort of reminded me of the coat Carmen Sandiego wore except that it cut off at the knee and it was a little more form fitting. Putting it on and leaving it unbuttoned I walked back to the mirror for inspection.

Yep this will definitely work. Especially with the awesome washed out jeans I picked out earlier. You know the ones that purposely have little rips on the knees and a couple near the bottom. Of course, this time I put on actual shoes after it was 'suggested' by the Doctor and it didn't help that the only pair in here to chose from were the yellow converse I'm now wearing. I have a sneaking suspicion he purposely hid the rest of the shoes, "Either that or the TARDIS has a mind of it's own..."

I narrow my eye's up in suspicion but received no reply, confirming the Doctor to be the culprit. Fidgeting with my bag I pull the strap across my chest, though it sort of looked awkward with my bust size. Not that they're large enough that I have to worry about one smacking me in the face while running, but they're by no means mosquito bites. And why am I fixating on my chest? A knock on the door shook me out of my stupid musing. "Are you ready yet?"

"Yep! Be right out in a second." Letting out a large puff of air I walked towards the door with purpose. Alright adventure here I come!

It was right then that the Doctor chose to open the door and poked his head in, "All right your second is over lets get a move on Adler. Places to go and people to see as you Americans say."

Before I could retort he'd shut the door and left. Hmmm...ok "Oh," he popped his head back in, "Nice coat, love the shoes, and the shirt-it's Doctor not Doc and...you know what we don't have enough time for you to change it and yes I know how ridiculous that sounds seeing as we're in a time machine."

I smiled as I followed him to the control room. Yep he liked the shirt. When we got the control room he twirled around the console before grinning back at me. "So any where and any time is right out those doors," I gestured behind him. "Yep," he said popping his p. Slowly I made my way to the doors, "So anything really could be out there. From some alien planet to the Jurassic period."

"Yep."

"Do you know what's out there?"

"Nope."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and grinned, gesturing for me to open the doors. So in one quick movement I excitedly push them out. To be honest if I had to guess where or when we'd end up I'd never have guessed here. "Huh?"

* * *

><p>Stepping off the elevator, or as the Doctor would say lift, I let out a long yawn. I so did not meet the required amount of sleep that's recommended last night. Partly from nerves and partly from the fact that chairs are not suitable resting places. Sipping the coke I'd purchased from the lower floor's vending machine, for a much needed caffeine buzz, I'd made my way across the hospital room to the Doctors little curtained area.<p>

My one and only trip we'd ended up in London which was sort of a let down, as I was hoping for an alien planet, but then again I've never traveled there and had always wanted to go, it was something I could officially cross off my bucket list, so that was a plus. Also we did technically travel in time because we're a couple of years before 2012 so that's cool. Although we were going to leave and try again, after the Doctor had seen my disappointed look, but then he noticed some plasma coils or what ever. So it warranted a quick investigation and then we'd be on our way. Which brings me to my current predicament.

I plopped down into the chair next to the bed, "So have you figured it out yet?"

He looked over at my twiddling his thumbs and smiled. "Nope."

Now that soured my hopeful mood. That smarmy bastard, he wouldn't be smiling so much if he had been sleeping in this chair last night. I glared at him, hoping I could project my thoughts and he'd get the hint. But alas I'm not psychic. No, he got the comfy hospital bed, cute stripped pj's, and free food. And does he share said food, nope. In fact he only took a bite then spit it out on the tray claiming it was 'disgusting'. Of course if I wasn't so agitated at the time I would have laughed when he tried to wipe the taste off his tongue with his hands.

I was just about to say something when the curtains were thrust open by a real doctor and his group of interns, each eager to gain his approval. "Now then," the older man glanced at the chart then continued, "Mr. Smith, a very good morning to you. How are you today?"

The Doctor gazed up at him and shrugged, "Aw, not so bad, still a bit, you know. Blah."

I resisted the urge to snort and continued to drink my coke. Aw caffeine, my one true love. "John Smith, admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains. Jones, why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me," the older man gestured to the bed. Abdominal pains my ass, I haven't eaten since I woke up yesterday. Somebody feed me!

The black female intern, or Jones, leaned over him, "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?"

I looked over at her as got ready to check his heart, stethoscope in hand. Wait he went out? Did he go sleuthing while I slept in this horrible chair and didn't offer the bed? The Doctor's brow knitted in confusion, "Sorry?"

"On Chancery Street this morning. You two came up to me and you took your tie off, she put it on."

I leaned towards them as the Doctor sat up a bit more, interested to know what she was talking about, "Really? What did I do that for?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "you just did."

"Not me. I was here, in bed. Ask the nurses," he flicked his eyes my way, "Echo what about you?"

"I've been here and to the vending machine and that's about it," I informed taking another sip of my drink. Despite our intentions to get to the bottom of thing not much investigation had occurred. It was all mostly hanging out in the stuffy playing eye spy with the Doctor, and that got old real fast. Jones looked extremely confused with our answers, and regarded us with skepticism, "Well, that's weird, cause it looked like you two. Have you got any siblings?"

The Doctor slightly pouted and shook his head, "No, not any more. Just me."

They both turned to me for a response and I waved my hands before myself defensively, "Oh! No, sorry I wouldn't know. I'm adopted. But I've been told I just have one of those faces."

The older man, his agitation growing as seconds ticked by, cleared his throat, "As time passes I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones."

Embarrassed her gaze fell down, "Sorry. Right."

Miss Jones, getting back to work, put her stethoscope to the Doctor's chest. Of course the results were met with a puzzled and then confused expression. Lifting up the device she moved it over to the other side of his chest. A small gasp of air escaped her mouth as here eyes shot up to the Doctor. He gave her a smirk and then winked. What was that exchange about? Instead of receiving an explanation, like I had hoped, the older mans irritated sigh interrupted, "I weep for future generations. Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?"

Eyes wide, regarding the Doctor with shock, she quickly stood up, fumbling for an answer, "Um...I-I don't know. Stomach cramps?"

Irritated, the older man rolled his eyes, and treated her like an imbecile rather than a student trying to learn, "That is a symptom, not a diagnosis," he scoffed before walking to the edge of the bed, "And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart."

Reaching down to pick up the chart, with slim wrinkled hands, he received an electrical shock and instantly dropped it with a cry of pain. "Ah!"

"That happened to me this morning," Jones commented. "I had the same thing on the door handle," one of the male interns spoke up. "And me, on the lift," one of the women added. A chorus of murmurs worked it's way through the group as other people confirmed they had experienced the same shock. Hell, the same thing happened to me earlier when I had reached into the vending machine. I rubbed my poor hand in memory. And here I thought the vending machine just had it out for me.

The older doctor man, saw that everyone was beginning to become hysterical, cut through the chatter, "That's only to be expected. There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by - anyone?"

Oh, I know this one! "Benjamin Franklin," the Doctor and I answered at the same time. He turned to smile at me as did the older man. "Correct!"

The Doctor sighed with nostalgia, "My mate Ben, that was a day and a half. I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked..."

I face palmed. He had to go and say something like that aloud, even if it was probably true, he's going to get himself sectioned. They wouldn't know he's telling the truth seeing as they didn't know the Doctor had a time machine. Or the fact that time travel is even possible. Suddenly the song 'there coming to take me away, ha-haa' came to mind. The older gent appeared upset with the statement and, as was to be expected, eyed him like he's crazy, "Quite…"

The Doctor grinned continuing on with no idea of the ramifications his story was having on the situation, "...and then I got electrocuted!"

I can't help but beam at him, I have to give him credit, he doesn't quit even if the story isn't time appropriate. "Moving on," the older doctor ushered his student interns out of the ward. Leaning over to a male nurse as he whispered some clear instructions, "I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric."

Oh, I so overheard that last bit. I so called it! Quickly and efficiently the group walked out the doors, " And next we have -"

Turning my attention back to the Doctor I sent him a smug smile, "You're completely ridiculous you know that right."

He held a hand to his heart slightly affronted, " I am not! That really happened."

"Oh, I'm sure it did," I assured, "But during this century time travel is just something you see in science fiction. So keeping that context in mind to anyone hearing that story it would sound like you're crazy-oh wait sorry different lingo over here-it would sound like your a nutter."

"Lingo," he raised up one eyebrow incredulously. "What," I asked defensively, "I like that word, I like using words that people don't normally use anymore. What have you got against the word lingo?"

"Nothing. In fact I rather like it. Though I can see what you're talking about with Ben, but we'll be fine. There not going to care, they'll just think me strange and ignore me," he smiled and patted my shoulder reassuringly. My attention jumped over to a woman wearing a lab coat as she entered the room. After all her sashay over to the nurses station demanded my attention. So I give her her due diligence and scrutinized her whole demeanor. Quickly glancing at her employee badge I could make out psychiatric. Snorting I Stifled a laugh.

"So, Doctor how do you feel about white coats that tie in the back and padded rooms?"

"Why," he asked suspiciously like it was some sort of trick question. I pointed over to the woman by the desk, "Because psychiatric just walked in."

He scoffed, waving it off, "Oh it's not like there here for me, stop being paranoid."

Just then, she asked the nurse sitting in front of the computer where John Smith's bed was. The male nurse nodded, eyes squinting at the screen, "Let me just look that up for you."

I tried not to laugh when the Doctors face slightly paled as the conversation drifted over. He ripped the covers off and stepped into a pair of slippers by the foot of the bed. "On second thought, we'll get nothing done if you laze about in that chair all day so lets do some snooping. Shall we."

Following him into the hall I let my eyes roll with slight annoyance. And we couldn't have done this yesterday because?

* * *

><p>We wander around for about ten or fifteen minutes just passing normal hospital rooms. No crazy labs or dungeons in sight. Nor anything that screamed 'I shouldn't be in a hospital'. We even passed a couple break-rooms one of which that girl Jones from earlier was in, I waved and smiled when we had passed. It was a minute or so after that all hell broke loose and the hospital began to shake. "What is it an earthquake?"<p>

The Doctor turned to address me while hanging onto a door frame, "No, not quite. Look out the window."

I shakily made my way over and almost laughed at what I saw. The rain was moving up. First human melting fog and now earthquake causing rain. Next on the forecast we have a 90 percent chance of mind controlling snow. When the shaking came to a halt and found we were no longer looking at rain, but space. Holy crap we're in space. That can't be good. So, like a numbskull, I pointed out the obvious, "Um...Doctor-we're in space."

"Yes, I see that Adler. But the better question is, where in space."

Latching on to my hand he lead me through the now crowded hallways, as people came to see the spectacle, making sure we didn't get separated in the chaos. People started panicking once they realize what had happened. Some were running around screaming while others are cowering in corners. It was mass hysteria throughout the corridors. It started to make me feel a bit panicky if my pulse was anything to go by.

The Doctor, with out looking back, gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Dragging me along further, we weaved around people till we returned back to our original ward. It had the same atmosphere in the hallway except with less people and in a smaller room. Scanning the room I spotted my horrible sleeping arrangements, the chair, knocked to the ground. Ha, revenge!

Suddenly I'm lead over to the window so the Doctor could peer out the glass, "Now, lets see exactly where in space we are."

Outside craters and peaks span out for miles like white immovable waves casting stark ethereal shadows from the earthlight before us. My eyes grew to the size of saucers, there was only one place we could be with a view like this. Holy cow, we're on the moon. I mean what human doesn't look up at the moon and think to themselves, if only I had a spaceship. But at that thought my shoulders tensed up, that's right I'm not human. I shook my head. Screw that, I'm whatever I want to be and what I want to be right now is human. The Doctor bumped his shoulder into mine, "On the plus side you definitely have a story to take back home with you now. And we're still alive so that's another plus."

On that note I let go of his hand and rooted around in my bag till I landed on what I was looking for. Grabbing the item I pulled out a digital camera. A Cannon Rebel. With a click I snapped a couple of pictures of the outside and a few of the scene inside, including the Doctor, in the room. Properly documenting my trip. He looked over just as I snapped another of him, "What are you doing?"

I pull the camera away from my face and stash it back into the bag, "Doctor when I'm old and senile, and most likely have Alzheimer's, I'd like to be able to look back at these moments and be like oh I remember this. I went to the moon. And don't worry I do this purely for scrap booking purposes not money making ones. So chill."

He wagged a finger while trying to fight off a grin, "You-"

Suddenly the door burst open and the girl from earlier strode in, interrupting the Doctor, "All right, everyone back to beds, we've got an emergency but we'll sort it out."

The Doctor watched her as he then ushered me over to our previous sleeping arrangements. He pulled the curtain around us shut just as Jones went over to the window, accompanied by one of the female interns from earlier. When we were cut from view he then started unbuttoning his shirt with an uninhibited nonchalance. I felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my skull. Wha-what-why? Was he doing what I think he was doing!

He threw the shirt aside to reveal the nicely toned, but not too toned, chest that had apparently been hidden underneath all those clothes. One that I am now looking at. That I should really stop looking at. I should look away. I should really look away. I am now looking away. It was at that thought he then went to remove his pants, or as they say trousers, or-you know what it doesn't matter what you call them because he's removing them! Gah! I spun around faster than you could say 'eek!' and kept my eyes fixed on the curtains.

Oh god, my face must match the color of my hair by now. Why would he just start taking off clothes like that. If he was going to do that he should have left me on the other side of the curtains. Was it some sort of British thing or am I just chicken when it comes to things of that nature. Or maybe he's just that open. Oh, how pathetic am I.

"It's real. It's really real. Hold on," someone said, a voice that sounded like Jones, from the other side of my clothed wall of shame. "Don't! We'll lose all the air," a woman sobbed frantically. "But they're not exactly air tight. If the air was going to get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So how come," the one from before reasoned. The only person with any left.

The Doctors stepped forward so we were side by side and adjusted the lapels of his stylish blue suit now fully re-clothed. He shot me a wink before pulling aside the curtains. They moved with a metallic clink that caught the attention of the two female interns. He addressed the two ladies, "Very good point! Brilliant, in fact. What was your name?"

He assessed Jones with a once over and she reciprocated the action, "Martha."

"And it was Jones, wasn't it," she nodded to his inquiry, "Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?"

The other woman standing next to Martha shuddered with a sob, "We can't be!"

The Doctor strode over to the window we had looked from earlier to examine it and rudely replied, "Obviously we are so don't waste my time. Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda, or...?"

Martha leaned over to look once more upon the surface of the moon, "By the patients' lounge, yeah."

The Doctor turned to her, a gleam in his eye, "Fancy going out?"

"Okay," She shrugged. Her laissez faire attitude on the situation painted a serious look onto the Doctor's face, "We might die."

"We might not," she argued, a smile working its way onto her mouth. "Good! C'mon. Adler that means you too," he added before pointing to the other intern, "Not her, she'd hold us up."

Martha and I rushed to catch up to him in the hallway. She sent a quick glance my way, "Adler…?"

"Oh right! Sorry It's Echo Adler," I extended my hand towards her. She smiled and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

* * *

><p>When we reached the balcony the Doctor, without hesitation, marched right through the doors, Martha and I just behind. As I came to stand upon the veranda, breathing in crisp cool air that by logic stated shouldn't be there, I was overtaken by the view. The panorama from the window earlier had nothing on this. This-this was...well there aren't really words that could accurately describe the impossible landscape set before me. The earth was presented in front of us with all it's glory, rising like a sun out of the ocean, I could make out the whole of Europe, and watched as the whites danced around the cascading blues and greens. Again, I took a few moments to grab my camera and snap a few more photo's. I had a better vantage point from there, unobstructed by any window.<p>

"We've got air," Martha took a moment to breathe as if to prove the point, astonished by the fact, "How does that work?"

I walked up and leaned on the ledge smiling, glad we stayed. I wondered if he'd take me to see the moon landing before I got plopped back off at home. It's part of my national heritage after all. The Doctor came to stand next to my side, arms folded behind his back. "Just be glad it does," he remarked admiring the landscape. We all seemed to take a moment to stare out at the earth all probably with the same thought. Wow! "I've got a party tonight," Martha glanced over, "It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's going to be really ... really..."

As her voice began to wobble she shook her head trailing off, trying to rid the emotion welling fourth. The Doctor turned a little worriedly toward her, "You okay?"

She nodded weakly, "Yeah."

"Want to go back in?"

She gazed back across the expanse of the moon, "No way. I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same - it's beautiful."

"You think?"

I smiled in agreement, "I know, right! If you want I can e-mail you a picture. Though it might take a while to receive them, give or take five years."

Waving my camera a bit, in emphasis, I stuffed it back into the bag. She smiled back, though slightly confused by my phrasing, "I'd love that."

She turned back towards the earth, as if she had read my earlier thoughts, "How many people want to go to the moon? And here we are!"

The Doctor rested against the balcony's banister, "Standing in the earthlight."

"What do you think happened," she asked.

"What do you two think," he re-directed. "Extraterrestrial," Martha and I stated at the same time. She smirked then continued along with her train of thought, "It's got to be. I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben-Christmas-those Cybermen things. I had a cousin. Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home."

I stiffened at the mention of Cybermen and it wasn't just because of what had happened the other day. It wasn't the first time I had had a run in with the creatures. No, the first time...the first time had been world shattering. It was then I felt my eyes begin to tear up just a bit and I tried blinking them away. Damn, I thought I had this under control. The Doctor stared at her with a tense hesitation, "I'm Sorry."

"Yeah," she nodded with melancholy. "I was there. In the battle," he added grimly. A long silence fell after his admission. I knew how they felt. I had lost some that day as well. The tears began to swell once more and thus I forcefully stamped down on them again. I let out a soft sigh. "I…," I trailed off for a second as they turned to my voice, "I lost my mother...she is-was this nice old lady who adopted me when I was about six. Always made me feel...she was the first person to… I couldn't get to her in time, I tried to get out to the cottage on Little Neck but I-she was already halfway through the conversion, it was a mess- there was just so much- there wasn't anyone to help. I couldn't-the cybermen had vanished. I was to late..."

I choked off at the end, trying to maintain my emotions, but continued, turning to address them, "So I understand."

The Doctor stared at me with a sorrowful gaze, as if my nightmare somehow added to that invisible weight carried on his shoulders. Outstretching an arm he patted my hand, 'So yesterday...I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Martha also looked apologetic, realizing the memory she must have invoked, "Me too. But I promise you, Mr. Smith, Ms. Adler, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way."

The Doctor took a step back and walked over to the other side of the balcony, leaning across the banister to look down and examine our situation, "It's not Smith, that's not my real name."

Martha eyed him confused, "Who are you, then?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Me too," She joked, "if I can pass my exams. What is it, then, Doctor Smith?"

He paced back over to my side and took a gander over the ledge to inspect the ground again, "Just...the Doctor."

"What, people call you _'the Doctor'_?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title," she crossed her arms together and spun back towards the earth light. I didn't understand why she couldn't believe his name was just the Doctor, hadn't she ever heard of Cher. She didn't have a last name. So how can the Doctor be so far-fetched. Although I suppose I was just odd and readily excepted in-turn other peoples oddness. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she turned to me with suspicion. Before she could accuse me of anything I waved my hands up in surrender, "My name's still the same as before, it hasn't changed."

An expression of relief flashed across her features as she returned her attention to the earth. "Well, I'd better make a start, then. Let's have a look," the Doctor mused and bent down to pick up a pebble before throwing it out into space. Instead of drifting off with weightlessness the object hit an unknown force causing a blue ripple to form from thin air. He carefully inspected the reaction, "There must be some sort of force field keeping the air in."

Martha's brow furrowed, "If that's like a bubble sealing us in, that means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?"

Gulp. We're all going to suffocate, well guess I won't be scrap booking this adventure after all. Great NASA's going to find all our dead rotting corpses floating in space. Do corpses even rot in space? The Doctor despite the situation appeared calm as a clam, "How many people in this hospital?"

"I don't know, a thousand," Martha estimated. "One thousand people. Suffocating," he grimly informed, answering her earlier query. Jones gasped with disbelief, "Why would anyone do that?"

A loud swoosh is heard as the area overhead began to rumble. The Doctor, to secure his balance, grabbed hold of the banister, "Head's up! Ask them yourself."

Looking up a large engine, propeller, star drive thingy, or what ever the technical term was, blasted hot bursts of air down on us as it flew forward, hovering above. It was attached to what looked like a big alien cylindrical tubey space ships from some intergalactic fleet you'd find in a star trek episode, because they're huge!

So huge in fact that their arrival began to cause the place to shake once more, though not as bad. Actually, upon second inspection, there were three of the behemoth ships arriving, touching down upon the lunar soil. Once the plume of dust settled from their landing, a metal platform lowered from the middle of the ships bottom. Big things in black armor filed out, beginning a marching towards the hospital. I looked over to the Doctor to ask what kind of ships they were, and possibly if the crew were friendly, but his face said it all as it hardened, and he set a glare upon the creatures. Martha on the other hand beamed with a sort of excitement, "Aliens. That's aliens. Real, proper aliens."

An excitement that was quickly crushed. The Doctor glowered naming the creatures, "Judoon."

Then grabbing my hand he started running, and I shot mine intern to grab hold of Martha's dragging her along as we traveled through the halls past people—who, if I thought were panicking earlier, was clearly an understatement as word spread of aliens heading toward the hospital. Suddenly a large group screamed like banshies ahead of us. But then, disturbingly, everything went eerily quiet. "Hurry up," the Doctor yelled, rushing us forward.

We quickly raced into the veranda on the second floor surrounding the lobby and dashed behind some potted plants for cover. Peaking over, I could make out the crowd bellow that cowered and curled into protective balls, flinching when ever a humanoid space Rhino came near. The Judoon, or space rhinos, shined some blue light thingy onto people before marking the right hand of each recipient with an X, informing it's platoon wether or not the reading came up "Human." Though nothing ever came up non-human.

The Doctor stood up a little for a better vantage point, "Oh, look down there, you've got a little shop. I like a little shop."

Following his view I spotted what he was gushing about. Hmm, it was a pretty poor excuse for a shop, it didn't have much stuff. Oh! But it did have candy, if only I could get down there without being noticed I could grab one. My stomach let out a soft growl, demanding I fight my way down if I had to. I rubbed it soothingly, don't worry we'll be fed soon.

"Never mind that," Martha scolded, "What are Judoon?"

I nudge the Doctor playfully and pointed to the shop, "We can grab something on the way out."

He smiled at that, glad that someone indulged him, before returning to the serious situation, "Galactic police. Well, police for hire. More like interplanetary thugs."

Martha and I peered around the large green leaves of the plants for a second look at the thugs. She raised an eyebrow, "And they brought us to the moon?"

"Neutral territory," the Doctor informed, "According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, and they isolated us. That rain? Lightning? That was them, using an H2O scoop."

Ok, so it was teleporting rain. Whoops, weather man mixed up the forecast a bit. "Can they just do that, isn't there some sort of law or precedent against that," I asked. The Doctor shook his head, "There is, but there are just as many loop holes to get around it."

I Groaned, "Great, the judicial system's always the same. No matter where your from apparently."

"What's that about 'galactic law'? Where'd you get that from? If they're police, are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon or something," Martha scoffs. Ha! I like her. Trespassing on the moon.

"No. But I like that," the Doctor smiled, "Good thinking. No, it's more simple. They're making a catalogue, it means they're after something non-human, which is very bad news for us."

Martha's face scrunched up as she processed what he'd just said. She tilted her head to the side, "Why?"

He stared at her, inferring the answer with out so many words, while I just look away sheepishly. So much from running away from my problems. She blinked, "Oh, you're kidding me."

He raised an eyebrow, as if he didn't understand how she could deny what was right in front of her. I on the other hand tried to further hide into the collar of my red jacket. "Don't be ridiculous," she scolded, "Stop looking at me like that."

The Doctor grinned and pulled us both up, "Come on then."

I groaned as we left the room. No matter how much I convince myself that I'm human I have a feeling that I won't be able to convince the scanners. I don't think denial will work on them. Shoot. Actually that's probably what they'll do to me when I read non-human on the scanners. And why did I think traveling in a time machine would be a good idea again?

As if to further add insult to injury it's with the running once again as we're dashing about throughout the debris ridden halls. You know, after this I might seriously invest in a treadmill or a gym membership. I may be fit but I'm quite out of shape if my lungs are any indicator. Feelin' the burn baby. As we came to the end of a hallway, the Doctor burst through some office doors. Martha and I caught up to find him already sitting in the office chair facing a computer, sonicing it. Martha caught her breath first, "They've reached the third floor," she stopped noticing the screwdriver and pointed to it, "What's that thing?"

"Sonic screwdriver," He answered as if it were the most mundane item one could purchase anywhere. Which intern caused Martha to become frustrated, "Well, if you're not going to answer me properly!"

The Doctor swiveled his chair around, confused by her irritation, "No, really, it is. It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic. Look."

He held it up for a moment, to illustrate his point, then dove back into what ever he was trying to accomplish with the computer screen before. Martha laughed approaching his side, "What else have you got? A laser spanner?"

"I did, but it was stolen by Emily Pankhurst, cheeky woman," he gave the computer a good smack, upset with it's uselessness, "Oh, what's wrong with this computer! The Judoon must have locked it down. Judoon platoon upon the moon."

He brushed a hand though his hair in frustration and I held back a laugh as it stuck up even more from the action. He appeared kind of crazy like that. Well, crazier. He shot a glance back toward me and I promptly avoid his gaze and clamped my mouth shut, like I hadn't been laughing at him. I hope he's not a mind reader. He then pivoted his attention to the medical intern, "Cause we were just traveling past, I swear, I was just wandering, I wasn't looking for trouble, honestly, I wasn't, I was just gonna take her on a quick trip, that's all, we were going to go somewhere else, really, but I noticed these plasma coils around the hospital, and that lightning - that's plasma coils - been building up for two days now, so I checked in, I thought something was going on inside, it turns out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

"But what were they looking for," Martha asked. I'd like to know that answer as well, except it's more of a who are they're looking for question. Seemed I jumped from one fiasco involving the search of a non-human to the next. The Doctor glared at the blank screen, "Something that looks human, but isn't."

"Like you. Apparently."

He canted his head back toward our new female friend, "Like me. But not me. And I don't think there here for her either," he gestured to me, "unless there's something you're not telling me."

I put my hands up in surrender, "I'm just as in the dark about me as you are. Nothing hinky going on here, promise."

Seemingly satisfied with that answer he returned to work on the computer. Martha crossed her arms, "Haven't they got a photo?"

"Could be a shape-changer," he mused tapping on the keyboard. The medical student leaned against the desk, watching the blank screen dubiously, "Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?"

The Doctor's typing escalated as he furiously jabbed at them with frustration when nothing but blank patient files appear on the screen, causing his voice to raise slightly, "If they declare the hospital guilty of harboring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution."

Martha looked over to me with alarm and we both turned to the Doctor with a shout, "All of us?"

"Oh yes. If I can't find this thing first…" he pushed back from the desk in indignation, his face turning red, "Oh! Just that they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records. Oh, that's clever."

He raked at his hair again, slouching into the chair with momentary defeat. Martha defensively rubbed a hand against her neck, "What are we looking for?"

"I don't know. Any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms. Maybe there's a back-up," the Doctor blew out with a puff of air. A thought crossed his mind and then he proceeded to take apart the computer, pulling at the casing.

"Just keep working. I'll go ask Mr Stoker, he might know," Martha informed and walked though the doors, disappearing into the chaos of the hallway. The Doctor began to sonic the computer once again, taking it apart to fiddle with the wires inside. "Well Adler you've been awfully quiet."

I sat down on the desk with a shrug, "Only because I'm catching my breathe. Didn't do much running in Ipswich. After all I mostly spent my time indoors working on sketches and paintings. So I'm not the most athletic. I did all my runnin' when I was a kid fighting imaginary monsters and navigating cardboard pirate ships."

He looked up about to reply, when the screen lit up emitting a bing, cutting what ever he was about to say off. "Aha! There we go. Knew they had back ups," he jumped out of the chair, "now lets go find Martha."

It didn't take long to find her as, coincidentally, she found us in the hallway. The Doctor beamed with accomplishment, "I've restored the back-up."

"I found her," Martha shouted at the same time as his declaration. The two of us time travelers stared at her with alarm, "You what?"

Just then, before any exchange of information took place, some dude decked out in black leather and a biker helmet came crashing through a closed wooden door. Busting it off the hinges. Well, that's rude. He could have just opened it. The Doctor slipped his hand back into mine and then Martha's, "Run!"

Dragging us along we dashing the corridor, zigzagging around fallen panels and abandoned overturn stretchers. Legs don't fail me now! Especially since black leather was right on our heels. Bursting through a pair of double doors we quickly made our way down the stairwell racing up flights, flying around corners till we reach the fourth floor where the Doctor skids to a halt. I was about to protest when I caught sight of the problem. A large problem, Judoon marched toward us, scanning the hallway occupants as they advanced, blocking our path. With lightning reflexes he pulled us into an empty corridor. It was at that time the Doctor let go of our hands, for a better range of movement, making it easier to out run the guy in leather as he followed. And he was unfortunately catching up!

Skidding around a couple more corners into increasingly less occupied halls the Doctor lead us right into a radiology room. Just in time to slam the door on the other guys face, locking it with the screwdriver, and effectively trapping us. On the plus side, we were safe from the moment. He ushered Martha and I into a room with a glass wall containing the controls to the, radiology machine in the middle of the other room. "When I say _'now'_, press the button," He instructed slipping out the door and closing it shut behind him. Martha and I followed his retreating form and shout the same question, "Which one?"

He dashed over to the machine, pulling out wires and realigning them, messing around with the output. Shoving his sonic into the machine he yelled his unhelpful answer, "Find out!"

Martha and I looked at each other with panic. I shouted the only thing that came to mind, "Is there a manual or something."

She rushed over to the white shelf behind us, skimming through the texts stacked together, "Found it."

Pulling it out, we flipped through the pages as fast as humanly possible, speed reading through the pages, coming up with nothing. The guy in leather was almost through the door. In my terror I shifted trying to think of something-anything to help. I snapped my fingers when an actual intelligent idea finally processed, "Oh-ah, check the table of contents!"

A huge crash announced that time for thought had run out, stifling Martha's reply. The wooden door fell with a loud shudder to the tiled floor, the man stomped over it with his black biker boots, moving toward the Doctor with murderous intent. Before the assailant could get within spitting distance of the Doctor he seized the machine and aimed it at black leather. "Now!"

Martha and I turned to each other with hysteria since we still hadn't worked out how to work the controls. Crap, crap, what do we do. Time was up and the Leather man was advancing on the Doctor. My eye's shift all over the controls as if something would shout pick me! Unfortunately, it was all French to me, except my eyes kept wandering back to one thing. The big yellow button. "Big yellow threateny button," I asked Martha, not really sure but hoping she'd have some inkling. After all she did work at the hospital. She looked at it before giving a nod in agreement, "Big yellow button it is."

At the same time we slammed our hands down. A flash of bright blue irrupted from the other room, swallowing it. Leaving us blinded to the scene unfolding within. Then it stopped. When it had appeared as if both men were left standing the one who had been chasing us crumpled forward like a board of wood, landing face down. The Doctor took a step over him towards the glass window of the gamma protected room. Martha looked at the body dumbfounded, "What did you do?"

The Doctor sounded out of breath as he answered, "Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead."

Now that didn't add up with my general knowledge of science accrued over the years of schooling. Shouldn't he be spiting out blood or have his hair be falling out? Why did he look so freaking calm. I guess Martha was thinking along the same lines, "Isn't that likely to kill you?"

"Nah, it's only radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for you to come out, I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it," to prove the point he started bouncing and hopping. Hesitantly, Martha and I left the safety of the glass room. The Doctor's face scrunched as if he had some awful itch. "If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left shoe. Here we go, here we go, easy does it…" he shook his left foot around is if doing the hokey pokey. "Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out, ah, ah, ah, ah. It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot. Ah - hold on," he ripped off his shoe and threw into the wastebasket in the corner of the room, "done."

I laughed at him from the corner of the room as he turned around to face us appearing completely manic. Martha's eyes look about ready to pop, "You're completely mad."

He glanced down at his foot and then returned to us with a straight face, "Right. I look daft with only one shoe."

Bending down he removed the item and threw it over his shoulder, it crashed somewhere behind him. The Doctor wiggled his toes with a grin, "Barefoot on the moon!"

I perk up at that, "Wait, so shoes are optional. I can take these off?"

"I wouldn't," he warned, "there's probably all sorts of hypodermics and glass laying about since the quake earlier."

I frowned at that. Damn there goes my freedom from my shoey oppressors. My fear of needles is greater than my need for no shoes. "What about you then," I asked gazing down at his naked feet. "Oh I'll be fine," he scoffed, shrugging with ease, "I'm made of stronger stuff."

Martha approached the dead man and squatted down to examine him, "So what is that thing? And where's it from? The planet Zovirax?"

The Doctor and I walked over to join her, staring at the leather laden man. "It's just a Slab," He informed, "They're called 'Slabs'. Basic slave drones, see? Solid leather, all the way through. Someone has got one hell of a fetish."

"I'll say," Martha remarked, watching the Doctor walk back to the jerry rigged machine, "It came with that woman, Mrs. Finnegan. It was working for her. Just like a servant."

Tentatively he retrieved his burnt sonic screwdriver out of the x-ray machine, eyes glossing over with loss. He held the item as if it were a baby bird and whined at it's state, "My sonic screwdriver."

Poor guy, his face appeared heart broken as he cradled it, I wonder if it was a gift or had some sentimental value. Martha, however, stared and kept trying to inform him of her earlier findings, "She was one of the patients, but -"

He interrupted her, "My sonic screwdriver!"

"She had a straw like some kind of vampire," she waved her hands in the air at the absurdity. Still she got no apparent reaction from out of the Doctor indicating he was even listening. "I loved my sonic screwdriver!"

Martha, finally being fed up with being ignored, shouted for attention, "Doctor!"

He quickly turned around at her frustrated voice, "Sorry."

Tossing the screwdriver over his shoulder he smiled noting something, "You called me Doctor!"

She rolled her eyes at what he chose to fixate on, "Anyway! Miss Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr. Stoker's blood."

I laugh at the unintended vampire joke but shut up as Martha sent a glare in my direction. The Doctor smirked at me then appeared contemplative, "Funny time to take a snack. You'd think she'd be hiding. Unless - no. Yes, that's it, wait a minute. Yes! Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it."

Oh great, I knew what assimilation meant. It meant the Doctor and I were gonna be the only aliens to show up on inspections. That didn't spell good news. I wasn't the only one to realize this as the Doctor frowned, "If she can assimilate Mr Stoker's blood, mimic the morphology, she can register as human. We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!"

Sprinting out of the room we made our way down another hall, of course we didn't get far. We weren't even halfway down the corridor when then Doctor spotted another slab and pushed us into a dead end where we hid behind a water cooler. The slab walked right past and kept going. When it was out of hearing distance he grumbled, "That's the thing about Slabs. They always travel in pairs."

Martha regarded the hallway, waiting for the next threat, "What about you?"

"What about me what?"

"Haven't you got back-up or is it just her? Is she your partner or something? Girlfriend maybe," She asked a little hopeful that he'd correct her, saying he was single. The unasked question didn't go unnoted by me and it was a little inappropriate for timing. But then again imminent death didn't leave much room for dating I guess. The Doctor even appeared a little taken aback from her line of inquiry, "Uh. Humans. We're stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you're asking personal questions. Come on."

He hefted us both up and took the lead, Martha and I followed obediently. She scoffed, "I like that. 'Humans.' I'm still not convinced you two are aliens."

Just as she said that, and we stepped fully out of the dead end, we landed right in front of a Judoon platoon. The one in the front pulled out his scanner shining the blue light right into the Doctor's face. The device beeped. "Non-human," the Judoon grunted, glaring at the screen. My eyes widened. Oh crap. "Oh my God, you really are," Martha shouted in panic. The space rhino's nostrils flared as they raised their weapons, primed and ready. The Doctor groaned with exasperation, "And again!"

Spinning around we careened down the corridor building up momentum, in order to escape. Which caused us to skid across the floor as we made a sharp right turn, right as the Judoon start shooting red lasers. Holy crap they have laser guns! That's not fair. Though I suppose I should have seen it coming, after this was all very star treky, so why wouldn't they have the appropriate gear, they had spaceships after all! Hurtling forward we burst into another flight of stairs and proceed to run up and shot off into another ward, locking the door behind us. Not that that'll do much since they had laser guns, I don't think a wooden door will exactly stop them, but I wasn't about to voice my concern. There were more pressing matters. As we walked, trying to regain our breath, the corridor, crowded with people were trying to do the same. Most were falling to the ground gasping for air. The Doctor, though upset about the other occupants predicaments, continued on, knowing there was only one thing he could do to fix this, find the alien. "They've done this floor. Come on," he ushered us forward, "The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've checked already. If we're lucky."

Proceeding on our current path we ended up passing a familiar face, the hysterical female intern from earlier that had been with Martha. She sat by the wall, her whole body straining with effort to help the patients around her put on oxygen masks. It seemed as if she had finally found her head and got over the initial panic. The years of training kicking in with the oath she had taken. Martha spotted her and stopped, leaning over with worry for her friend, "How much oxygen is there?"

The Doctor turned around noticing he was no longer being followed and came over to asses the situation. Again, I got that feeling of being an ass because I didn't know what I could possibly say to comfort these people. I know it wasn't my job, but I couldn't help but wish to have just the right words they needed to hear. I could empathize with them, but I couldn't find a way to properly express those feelings. The Doctor, peering at the struggling faces of the others, turned to the both of us with concern, "How are you two feeling? Are you all right?"

Martha looked back up at him with a smile, "I'm running on adrenaline."

He turned to me expectantly, waiting for a statement on my well being. I shrugged, "I'm starving. I haven't eaten in two days but I'm so pumped up and running on reserves it's not bothering me right now."

He coyly smirked, "Welcome to my world."

"What about the Judoon," the thought occurred to Martha. After all they should be affected to right? Meaning they might add more air to the place. Unfortunately that idea was crushed when the Doctor answered Jones. "Ah, great big lung reserves, it won't slow them down. Where's Mr Stoker's office?"

She got up a bit more winded than before, her adrenaline starting to vanish with our immobility, "It's this way."

Leading the way we turned a corner and enter a room, apparently the office wasn't very far. Of course, instead of an evil alien we were met with just a dead body. The Doctor rushed across the room and squatted down to examine the deceased man, our earlier doctor. Martha clenched her hands upset, "She's gone! She was here."

The Doctor inspected Mr. Stoker, rummaging though his coat. He laid on the ground stiff as a board, as white as a sheet, but something caught his attention. A little hole could be seen on his neck, dried blood smudged around it. The Doctor leaned back, "Drained him dry. Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore."

In my mind I corrected him and said vampire. Even though it's not the technical term I liked it better than his. Martha wrapped a hand around her own neck, "What was she doing on Earth?"

"Well she's in a hospital," I added my two cents, "So if she gets hungry she can always go down to the blood bank and grab a bite. Maybe that's why she's here? Easy food supply. Low risk."

"Or Hiding," the Doctor corrected, "On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro. What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on."

Before we could gallop away with urgency Martha stopped us, "Wait a minute."

Walking over she bent down to Mr. Stoker and closed his eyes. I smiled at the act of humanity. That was nice of her. I'm sure if his soul could see he'd appreciate the sentiment. She caught my look and smiled back and with that we left the room. The Doctor swept a hand through his hair, sticking it up further. He really should stop that or he'll go bald. "Think, think, think," he growled, "If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?"

He was silent for a moment as something ahead of us caught his eye. His mouth curled into an 'O'. "Aah. She's as clever as me. Almost."

Prior to any explanation, a big bang interrupted him from the left as Judoon begun to spill into the hallway. Apparently they figured us out. People started running and screaming at their presence. One of them started shouting orders, "Find the non-human. Execute."

Oh, that isn't good. Before we could run the Doctor jumped in front of Martha and I, resting a hand on both of our shoulders. "Stay here. I need time. You're going to have to hold them up."

Martha twisted a head towards the Judoon, "How do I do that?"

I second that motion. They said execute non-human. I'd rather not test out that theory. The Doctor looked between the two of us then settled his serious gaze upon Martha. "Martha, forgive me for this. It's to save a thousand lives, it means nothing. Honestly, nothing."

She bobbed her head in agreement, waiting for him to elaborate on his statement, when he unexpectedly snatched her face between his hands and smashed his lips to hers. I had a feeling my face was permanently going to be stuck with my eyes bulging out of their sockets. That's a hell of a way to say goodbye. Doesn't he know she's running out of air. He drew away and her eyes remained closed with some sort of ecstasy. I laughed at her when he suddenly cradled my face, the pad of his thumb brushing against my cheek. "What," but I never finished the sentence as his lips collided with mine. My hands flailed around by my sides, as his soft mouth moved against mine with a kiss, my eye's practically popping out of my skull. Ah! What is he doing, well obviously he's kissing me, but why is he doing it! Unintentionally I began to lean forward and almost fell when we parted. "Don't worry," he smiled, "you'll be fine."

Letting go he rushed off, leaving me behind trying to recollect the rest of my frazzled brain. I know understood Martha's face. He wasn't a bad kisser. Wait, why would he kiss me out of the blue like that, was that some sort of goodbye you're probably gonna die kiss! But there we're so many things I wanted to do with my life. That wasn't even on the list, although admittedly it should be. No! Stop the stupid girly nonsense. Martha seemed to take that moment to come out of her daze if only slightly, "That was nothing?"

I looked over at her adding playfully, "Imagine what I'd be like if it was something."

She smiled at me wistfully, eyes unfocused gazing into some fantasy, "Yeah."

Clearing my throat I jumped straight into business, "I suppose we should stand in the middle of the hall and wait till they come over, yeah?"

Martha shook herself back to reality and nodded in agreement, following me back near her friend. We stood watching as our black suited executioners approached. I braced my self for immediate death as the Judoon busted through the last set of doors stalking there way over to us, after all they did say execute. With only a few feet away they stalked right up to Martha who tried to reason with them, "Now, listen. I know who you're looking for. She's this woman. She calls herself Florence."

Instead of listening it pulled out a scanner and flashed her with the blue light. "Human," it informed but halted when the scanner emitted a weird noise, "Wait non-human traits suspected. Non-human element confirmed. Authorize full scan."

The other rhino's formed a circle around her and leveled their guns at Martha as she was pushed into the wall by the one holding the scanner, "What are you? What are you?"

Martha froze petrified, her life probably flashing before her eyes. At least she won't be me in a few seconds, after all I'm actually not human. "Confirmed: human. Traces of facial contact with non-human. Continue the search," it handed her a slip of paper. "You'll need this."

Martha peered down at her hand confused, "What's that for?"

"Compensation."

Now it was my turn. The rhino then turned to me. Oh crap, here it comes, death by space rhino. What a way to go. I wonder if they can put that as my epitaph, that would be funny. Wow, this is twice I've had to face my own imminent death. Shoving the scanner into my face Martha paled realizing what was about to happen. "Human," it verified, "Wait non-human element confirmed. Authorize full scans."

It was my turn to be man handled, or rather rhino handled, into the wall as it shoved me against the plaster, practically squeezing the air from my lungs. All guns pointed towards me. "Confirmed: Non-human. Traces of human facial residue. Confirming analysis."

If I thought I was being man handled before it was nothing compared to the pressure now ramming me into the wall at the word non- human. Guns were thrust into my face and began to charge. Here it comes, if it's any consolation it should only hurt for a few seconds then I won't feel anything...cause I'll be dead. A little ding rang out from the scanner. On the plus side, I'll get to learn what species I am before I bite the big one. "Species unknown," My eyebrows practically jump off my face, really I couldn't even get that little luxury. Crushing me further into the paint, that I swear was now stained the back of my coat, it snarled in my face. Sending spittle flying everywhere, "What species are you, what species!"

It forced a gun against my cheek rather painfully demanding answers that not even I could have given to save my life. "I don't know. I swear to you I don't know!"

Ruffly it threw me to one of the other Judoon, which clamped it's big beefy hands down onto my arms. "Detain the suspect for further questioning. Continue the search. The female is not what we are looking for."

Instantly cuffs were slapped onto my wrists as it hauled me along by the arm, pulling me with the rest of the platoon. Barely, I could hear Martha's protesting as she followed after. The platoon, with only one place left to search on the floor, entered the MRI room to find a terrible scene. My face drained of blood when I caught sight of The Doctor on the floor, unmoving. An old lady jumped away from his body, with mock shock, "Now see what you've done. This poor man just died of fright."

"Scan him," A Judoon ordered. Another lifted a scanner up aiming it at the Doctor. The device pinged, "Confirmation: deceased."

Martha fought her way through the crowd of aliens into the room as one of them quickly restrained her from moving any further, "No, he can't be. Let me through, let me see him"

My breath left as I tried to surge forward, "No, he can't be dead. He just can't! Do something, we're in a hospital for gods sake!"

"Stop," a creature ordered, "Case closed."

"But it was her. She killed him. She did it. She murdered him," Martha pointed towards the old simpering woman. A slab stood behind her confirming, at least in my mind, that she was indeed the plasmavore. "The Judoon have no authority over human crime," the platoon leader stated.

"But she's not human," we protested, pointing at the other woman. She smirked smugly at us before throwing on a fake pout. "Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued," she raised her hand up, to show a black X marked upon it. "But she's not," I yelled, struggling with my captor. Martha's eyes widen as she realized something, "She assimil- Wait a minute. You drank his blood. The Doctor's blood."

She's practically jumping up and down with the revelation. And as my mind took a few moments to catch up, I'd have join her myself if I wasn't attached to the hip with one of the space rhino's. Quickly Martha swiped one of the scanners from a Judoon's holster and points it at the old crone. Pressing the only button. "Oh, all right. Scan all you like," the elderly women gloated, so sure of her own victory. It beeped and a platoon member hurriedly re-confiscated it. It looked down and read the outcome, "Non-human."

The plasmavore's face blanched, her earlier smugness shattering to the floor, "What?"

"Confirm analysis."

The old woman started to panic, reaching for an excuse to stop them from continuing, "Oh, but it's a mistake, surely. I'm human. I'm as human as they come."

"He gave his life so they'd find you," Martha whimpered. I had to take in a shaky intake of breath myself, but I shook it off. Getting emotional wouldn't help any one, I could do that later. The Judoon simultaneously raised their weapons the second the analysis came up, "Confirmed: Plasmavore. I charge you with the crime of murdering the princess of Patrival Regency Nine."

The plasmavore sneered, "She deserved it! Those pink cheeks and those blond curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore."

They cocked their guns, "Do you confess?"

"Confess? I'm proud of it! Slab - stop them!"

Oh, how did they miss him. Oh yeah...the Doctor. I tried to duck as the slab shot at us, but before it could land a hit the Judoon made quick work of him, disintegrating it. The plasmavore, seeing her end was coming, rushed over to some controls behind a glass partition. She began twisting knobs and pressing buttons with manic fever as the platoon leader gave his orders, "Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution."

A sign hanging on the ceiling lit up as the alien slide a lever down. I stared at is dubiously, did that say magnetic overload? Oh that couldn't be good! "Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell," the woman screamed, like she would win this after all, but the Judoon put an end to her evil laughter. Laser fire beat down upon her and she disintegrated mid-scream. The platoon leader grunted in approval, "Case closed."

"What did she mean, _burn with me_? The scanner shouldn't be doing that. She's done something," Martha accused, pointing over to the machine. A Judoon lifted up a scanner, sending a blue light to wash over the controls. It didn't appear happy with the readings, "Scans detect lethal acceleration of mono-magnetic pulse."

"Well, do something! Stop it," Martha demanded. The creature barely even gave her heed. Instead it hit a switch on it's helmet, "Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."

I turned to Martha with alarm as the machine began to build in pitch, blue electrical sparks arched from the MRI. Struggling with my captor I glared at him, "What about all the people in the hospital! What are you gonna do about them!"

"You can't just leave it. What's it going to do," Martha asked, yelling over the growing platoon leader barked orders into a speaker imbedded into the helmet, "All units withdraw."

In an instant the Judoon started to leave, dragging me along for the ride, "What are you doing! Let me go," I shouted wrestling against its grip, "You can't just detain me. Under what law can you do that! Let me go! I have rights! I've done nothing wrong!"

Irritated the creature bore down at me and grunted as we started to fall behind the rest. Realizing I'd be more hassle than I was worth it pulled out a slip of paper, one that was slightly different than the one previously dolled out. I held the foreign writing in my hand, "What's this?"

"Your summons to report to the shadow proclamation for processing," it shoved me aside to catch up with the rest to escape. It boots thundering down the hall. "Wait," I called out gazing down at my wrists before returning to it's retreating form, "what about the cuffs. Hey!"

Martha screamed in the background after the creatures, "Bring her back, you can't just take someone! You can't go. That thing's going to explode and it's all your fault!"

Realizing it wasn't the time to fret about cuffs I raced back into the room. Martha kneeled next to the Doctor preforming CPR on him, pushing her hands down onto his chest frantically. A brief expression of relief flashed across her features as she looked up to see I hadn't been taken. Rushing forward I fell to my knee's across from her, peering over his body. "Is there anything I can do?"

She shook her head at me and continued with her ministrations. She didn't have time to speak, she couldn't stop, stopping meant giving up. "One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five," she counted before gasping for another collection of air. She was about to pump his chest again when her eyes widened with a revelation, "Two hearts! One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five."

He has two hearts! Not eve I knew that. I guess that is very alien. Speaking of alien, the Doctor jolted up, greedily gasping for what little air was left. Martha slumped over, falling to the floor. She worked to stay conscious, fighting for oxygen. With great effort she pointed over to the machine as another burst of electrical tendrils shot forth, "The scanner. She did something."

And with that Martha was down for the count, not that was I fairing any better. Gently I laid my self down across the cold tile taking in shallower and shallower breaths. Coughing, the Doctor crawled and staggers toward the MRI. My vision started to tunnel as I heard him rattling by the equipment, the ceiling seemed to move farther and farther away. The loud noise sounded as if it were powering down like an old analog TV when it's unplugged from the outlet. I could hear footsteps approaching, wandering over to Martha and I. His face appear into my line of sight as he bent over to pick me up, but I waved him off the best I could with my cuffed wrists. Thinking I was fine since I could respond he moved to pick up Martha instead. Carrying her out through the door bridal style.

I went to follow after, to get up, but found I no longer had the strength and that I wasn't as ok as I had thought. My breathing became to labored, to strenuous and painful. I stared up at the ceiling that I was having trouble making out, it's speckled panels blurring and running away from me. Vaguely, I was aware that the ground shook. Vaguely I was aware of the rumbling. But it was all promptly swallowed by blackness.

* * *

><p>Next thing I knew I felt as if I were flying. Cradled in some unknown warmth. I snuggled into it but something kept trying to pull me out. Calling after me. "-cho. Echo."<p>

Groaning, it took a moment for my eyes to readjust to the light. I blinked a couple of times when the Doctors worried visage focused into view. It was then, to my dismay, I realize I wasn't flying, but getting carried out of the lobby. Like some damsel in distress. He smiled down, "Welcome back to planet Earth, Adler."

I had to squint when the sun beamed into my eyes as we crossed the threshold Crisp cool air surrounded us as I found myself assaulted by sudden the sound of people arguing, crying, and laughing as they ran to family, friends. Police sirens seemed to compete with the commotion trying to wail over it. It was all a bit disorientation but my pride couldn't stand being carried like a newlywed any longer. I squirmed in his arms, "Um… I think I can walk now. Doctor."

Raising a brow skeptically he did as I asked and set me down, "You _think_?"

"Oh, shush," I playfully whack him in arm, though admittedly with both hands since that situation hadn't changed. Then taking a tentative step forward I almost fell but quickly right myself, years of icy New England weather had prepared me for regaining balance. Seeing I wasn't about to die the Doctor pushed forward, "All right then. Come along!"

Jogging across the street, as more people and police pulled up to the hospital, we walked over to the TARDIS. Upon seeing it I had the overwhelming need to hug it, but decide against it as I wasn't sure how the Doctor would react to that. Taking one last look back at the hospital I spotted Martha near an ambulance. I waved and smile as she caught sight of me and I walked into the ship.

The Doctor ambled over to the console, throwing her into gear. "Um Doctor? Do you think you can get these off me," I asked waving my bound wrist for him to see. He turned over to see the cuffs, his face scrunched with confusion, as if just noticing them. "What are you wearing those for?"

I scoffed setting my arms down. "For fun. What do you think! The Judoon scanned me. Detained me as a suspect. And I'm surprised they didn't shoot me since they didn't appear to have the greatest policy on non-humans," I rummaged through my bag to pull out the slip of paper, showing it to him, "And apparently I have to go to some shadow proclamation for processing. What does that even mean, _processing!_ I got the feeling that there was an 'or else' clause attached with this piece of paper."

"Psh," he waved off my concerns, "Is that all. Don't worry about it, we'll pop in and clear that up before you leave."

I stared at him incredulously. Really. It would be that easy. Just like that? A beeping noise erupted from the console, catching my attention. A new sonic screwdriver popped out of a compartment. He rushed forward and picked it up, a smile on his face as he held it. "Here we go. Now put your arms out for just a tick."

I did as he ordered and thrust my arms forward. He pointed his screwdriver at the cuffs, they clicked off and fell onto the floor with a clatter. Hooray freedom! I rubbed my wrists in a weak effort to soothe them. Mean space rhinos…

He clapped his hands together, as if remembering something, and leaned a hip against the console. "Now, why don't you go down the hall, take a left, a right, a right again then one more left and the kitchen should be the third door on the right. Can't miss it, it says kitchen. Help your self to what ever's in the cupboard. Oh, and should you get lost," he added, "just ask the TARDIS for help."

I strolled toward the brozened corridors when I pause at the threshold, twisting my head backward, "Wait, you mean the TARDIS can understand me?"

"Well obviously, she's alive, now off you pop," he stated offering no explanation, "I just have to pick up something and then we're off."

To my credit I didn't get lost on my way to the kitchen, though I didn't stay long. Instead I shoveled as much food as I could into my gullet and made my way back to the console room. I was to curious to see what he was picking up, call me nosy. Just as I reentered the room he rushed back through the blue doors, beaming as he wound a wheel on the console and started up the TARDIS. He looked up noting my presence as I grabbed a pillar, "Welcome back."

Grabbing a mallet and dinging a bell, he twisted and turned a few knobs and typed on the type writer, in what my best educated guess could come up with, setting co-ordinates. The TARDIS jolted to a stop and I almost fell from to the floor despite my hand hold as he, unhindered by the landing, made for the door, "Let's go Adler, time to show Martha a tie."

Hurrying after, I following him out into a bustling London Street. People brushed past in every which way, in every shape and color, just going about their lives. Cars zoomed past, honking, screeching, rumbling like bees weaving through traffic. Tourist giggled and beamed with excitement as they entered and exited cabs, glad to be on an adventure of their own. And there, standing in the midst of it all, was Martha chatting on the phone with someone. Quickly we walked up to her, feeling the watchful presence of others she looked up. The Doctor smiled having her attention and grabbed his tie. "Like so," he stated looping it off to hold before her, "see."

I then snatch it from his grasp and slung it around my head to my neck. Pushing half the tie up to examining it I decided it fit well with my ensemble, "I might keep this."

Rapidly looking back up I gave a smile before walk away from an amused Martha. Working through the crowd we made our way back to the TARDIS, pushing through the blue doors. Racing across the metal mesh floor the Doctor went straight for the console, plotting a course, re-materializing us somewhere. "You're going to want to see this next bit Adler," he informed racing toward the entrance, "It's my favorite part."

He opening the door a surprised Martha was revealed, now wearing different clothes, standing in an alleyway amazed. She tried to think of something to say but nothing came to mind. He grinned. "Told you!"

She pointed at the two of us, "I know, but...that was this morning! But - Did you...Oh, my God! You can travel in time!"

The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows and pulled the tie from around my neck, despite my protest, and put it back onto himself. I pouted at the loss of my new tie. Martha frowned figuring out the implications of time travel meant, "But hold on, if you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?"

Even I knew that was a no-no in the laws of time travel. Every TV show I had seen in the history of my life that traveled down that premise always ended badly, epicly. She must not watch much Sci-fi to ask that question. He rolled his eyes, "Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden. Except for cheap tricks."

"And that's your spaceship," she asked trying to get a look behind us. I'm sure what ever she could get a gander at was hard to see as the light coming from inside must be blinding her since she's standing in the dark. The Doctor smirked at the use of spaceship since she was so much more than a ship, "It's called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

Martha smirked gesturing to the TARDIS with her chin, "Your spaceship's made of wood. There's not much room. We'd be a bit intimate."

He moved out of the way, ignoring the last part, "Take a look."

Slowly she walked past us into the ship, the golden light enshrouding her entrance. She looked around the vast expanse of the inside in pure amazement. However her eyes soon bugged as she noticed the large complex nature of the room, then raced out of the ship to circle around it, "Oh, no, no."

Rushing back to the entrance she realized the impossibilities of the room behind us,and a look of child like magic washed across her features. I wonder if my face looked like that when I first went in? "But, it's just a box. But it's huge. How does it do that? It's wood!?"

She knocked on the blue wood of the police box to verify it's actual existence. Then she walked back in, the Doctor and I followed after her, and stared at the ceiling, "It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside."

He mouthed the last part to me as her back was turned. I chuckled, so that was what he was waiting for. "Is it," he asked, feigning knowledge, "I hadn't noticed."

Shutting the door firmly behind us he then threw his coat onto one of the pillars, moving over to his beloved console, "All right, then, let's get going.

"But is there a crew," Martha spun around, "Like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?"

"It's just him," I pointed to the Doctor. His earlier enthusiasm deflated at that, "Just me."

"All on your own?"

A sad look crossed his face, darted across some unknown thing, like a memory fleeting past, "Well, sometimes I have guests. I mean some friends, traveling alongside. Just look at Adler...I had - there was recently a friend of mine. Rose, her name was, Rose. And... we were together. Anyway."

Martha approached him cautiously, "Where is she now?"

"With her family. Happy. She's fine. Not that you're replacing her," he then pointed to me, "you neither."

I held up my hands in defense, "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Never said I was," Martha remarked. Held a finger up to us, his voice taking on a serious tone, "Just one trip to say 'thanks', you get one trip, then back home. And since you didn't exactly sign up for the last one Adler we'll call it a wash, and this will be the one that counts. I'd rather be on my own."

"You're the one that kissed me," Martha teased, leaning up against the console across from him, trying to appear seductive. The Doctor ruffled at her _'accusation',_ upset, "That was a genetic transfer."

"And if you will wear a tight suit…," She purred, smiling coyly. His face hardened, warning her, "Now...don't!"

"And then travel all the way across the universe just to ask me on a date…," she stated huskily. Oh, come on he said it meant nothing leave him alone. I'm not looking to much into and neither should she. Oh man she's going to ruin everything and we'll never get our trip. "Stop it," he yelled, finally losing his patients, his voice reverberated around the room, and everything fell silent. Shifting awkwardly Martha scratched her neck, "For the record? I'm not remotely interested. I only go for humans."

He smiled, satisfied with the answer, "Good. Well, then," he then turned to me, "You better not get any ideas either. I was just transferring her genetic material over to you."

I held up my hands in surrender, "I assumed, besides I'm not really a relationship kind of gal. I'm more of a 'you can never have to many friends' kind of girl."

He seemed to like that answer and moved on with a nod. Going about his usual piloting business he started pulling levers and dancing around the operating systems, "Good, now, Close down the gravitic anomalizer. Fire up the helmic regulator. And finally - the hand brake. Ready?"

"No," Martha shook her head, gripping onto a hand bar on the console. "Yes," I beamed.

"Off we go," He tugged down the hand brake and spun the gravitic anomalizer. The TARDIS jolted and shook before taking off. He almost fell, but still managed to hold on from years of experience. "Blimey, it's a bit bumpy," Martha complained trying not to end up on the floor. "But all the same still awesome," I laughed next to her hanging on for dear life. "Welcome aboard, Miss Jones. Once more into the breach Miss Adler."

He reached over to shake both our hands vigorously. Our new friend smiled, "It's my pleasure Mr Smith."

"Dear friend, once more," I stated, finishing the quote with a grin. And too many more I hoped.

* * *

><p>Please rate and review ^_^<p>

P.s. I'm not sure if Echo should be timelord, human plus timelord or some entirely new species, so if you could give me an answer in your reviews or vote on my poll that would be helpful, although the issue shouldn't come up until the next two chapters. Her species should be revealed so vote now. Also i made it so you can pick more than one if you can't decide.

P.p.s. my poll can be found at the top of my profile page or (if this link works) Vote Now! Current tally is 10 timelord, 7 some entirely new species, 5 human+timelord

You only have yourself to blame if you don't like the species that gets chosen if you don't vote.

A little info to help with your poll decision:

**1. If she ends up being a timelord you'll notice she doesn't have a watch so it'll be a different concept that that one to introduce her as one.**

**2. If she's a new species, well she's a new species that could make her anything, with or with out a number of abilities.**

**3. If she turns out Human+timelord her parents won't be Amy or Rory, Nor will she be River's child with some unknown male. You'll never guess who her parents are (or maybe you will with what I'm about to say) but they do exist in the Who universe. And no she won't be Roses child either. But she will be the child of one of his past companions (no its not Romana).**

NEXT EPISODE: The Shakespeare Code


	4. The Shakespeare Code

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show. sorry about any spelling mistakes I'll make sure to fix anything you find that I missed.

_Ps. sorry about the wait. ^_^ and sorry about and spelling or grammar mistakes, i'll fix anything found._

* * *

><p>The ride was a bit bumpier than I thought it would be. Not that my first ride was smooth either, but this was a bit much. Especially when my back hit one of the pillars with a crack, <em>ouch<em>. That would bruise later, not that I didn't have any forming from our earlier excursion already. Just another to add to my morbid collection. Stumbling over to the console I gripped the sides harder than probably necessary, as I was tired of being flung about like some rag doll. Though I did so with a bit of trepidation. Martha had been asking the Doctor personal questions since the TARDIS started it's flight that I was afraid I'd get sucked into her twenty questions vortex.

Though I was finally relieved when she'd changed the subject. He was becoming more distant with each one and she was none the wiser of the effect it was starting to have. I was beginning to think he'd end the trip. "But how do you travel in time? What makes it go?"

"Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything! Martha," the Doctor hit a bell with a mallet before gazing at her from over the controls, "you don't wanna know. It just does. Hold on tight!"

He was practically on top of the console as he climbed onto it to stay upright, the shaking getting a bit much even for him. Seeing that Martha was a little put out by his answer I offered one of my own as I nearly fell into her, "I assume it has to do with some sort of highly complicated mathematical equations and scientific theories that would make our tiny minds explode. It's probably for the best he don't explain."

"I suppose your right," she smiled just as she had gotten knocked onto her butt as the ship heaved. The Doctor shortly followed after as he fell off the console with her, all limbs and arms. I, however, remain tightly attached to my perch by pure willpower when the TARDIS came to a halt. Martha stumbled up onto her feet, "Blimey! Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?"

The Doctor jumped up and raced to a coral pillar to snatch his coat, shrugging it on. A moment later he grabbed Martha's jacket and threw it back to her, "Yes, and I failed it."

"That's very reassuring," I whisper sarcastically in her ear. She giggled under her breath, trying not to let our designated drive hear. The Doctor dashed over to the entrance in a brown whirl, "Now, make the most of it. I promised you both one trip and one trip only. Outside this door…," he paused for added effect, spinning round to face us, "Brave new world."

Martha and I turned to each other excitedly, the possibilities eating us up. It really could be anything outside, like a mystery bag won at a fair you never know what it is till you open it. "Where are we," Martha asked. "When are we," I added, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Take a look," he smirked, opening the doors and gesturing us out with his head, "After you."

Martha beamed and promptly sprinted out the door, no longer able to contain herself. Pushing off I trailed after her not wanting to be the last out. As I past the threshold I stopped in awe. Outside, is what I assumed to be, an Elizabethan Street with people of all shapes and sizes milling about. Torch light, hanging from the sides of plaster walls, cascaded the scene with an unintended romantic atmosphere, casting stark shadows in seemingly all the right places. An atmosphere a couple over by a local tavern seemed to be taking advantage of. I chuckled at that, I guess things never change even when the times do. Quickly, I gazed up to see that same twinkling night sky, as if to check and make sure it would still be there, "Amazing."

"Oh, you are kidding me. You are so kidding me. Oh, my God! We did it. We travelled in time. Where are we? No, sorry. I gotta get used to this whole new language. When are we," Martha asked with vibrating enthusiasm. I snapped away from the stars and looked over expectantly for his answer, eagerly awaiting them. Before the Doctor could speak however something above caught his eye. They widened slightly as he instantaneously grabbed Martha and I pushing us back with him.

"Mind the loo," a man from a window above shouted as the contents of his bucket splashed to the ground. "Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that," the Doctor replied, his nose squishing from the smell. I scrunched my face at the odor myself, "Oh that's ripe."

Martha, bless her heart, didn't let that destroy her excitement and just waved it off, "I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift at A&E."

Though I wondered what could be worse than excrement, I suppose if Martha could take the stench than so could I. Not that I'd have to deal with it much longer as we just stepped around the mess and continued on, the Doctor guiding us through the crowd. But some thought seemed to keep Martha's attention till she couldn't keep it in any longer and tugged his coat stopping us, "But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

"Of course we can," he answered with a bewildered look, "Why do you ask?"

"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly; you change the future of the human race," she worriedly queried. I had briefly pondered the same thing, but considering the fact that I was still walking around that, that wasn't the case. The Doctor's brows knitted together in confusion, "Well, tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?"

Now we were on the subject, now was probably a good time to get answers myself, "I've always wondered about that, not the butterfly part, but the fact that we're meddling in the past will it change the future. Well, obviously it does unless what we're doing was always supposed to have happened so we're not really changing anything. Or does the universe just compensate around the change so we don't really notice it's happened or-"

I tapered off at their collective faces of surprise, scratching the back of my head slightly embarrassed, "Sorry, I thought since we were on the topic I'd ask. I like learning new things."

The Doctor smiled, "Brilliant. I mean you're not right but you're not wrong either. It's a good simple explanation. I mean it's much more complicated than that, but not to far off."

Briefly I wondered how I was right and how I was wrong at the same time, but it looked like he wanted to continue down the road so I didn't push the discrepancy in logic. The real explanation of the effects of time travel would have to wait till later. Right now was time for adventuring. When we started to walk once more another idea came to Martha, "What if, I dunno, what if I kill my grandfather?"

The Doctor turned around to walk backwards so that he was facing her. "You planning to?"

"No," she stated curtly. He sent her a nod before swiveling forward, "Well, then."

"Hey, where are we anyways," I asked. Martha examined our surroundings, "London maybe."

He looked back, "I think so. Right about 1599."

"Oh, but hold on," Martha's eyes widened and she grabbed the Doctor's arm, "Am I all right? I'm not gonna get carted off as a slave, am I?"

The Doctor gazed down at her confused, "Why would they do that?"

"Not exactly white," she pointed to her face, "in case you haven't noticed."

Jimmeny, I hadn't even thought about that. But from what I've learned, not only from history class but TV, slaves weren't exclusively black during this period. Still it was something to watch out for. Quickly I linked my arm with hers, "Let em try. One good kick to the crotch and we run like hell. They'll never catch us. Hiyah!"

I emphasized my threat by giving a mock karate kick to the air. Martha smiled as at the gesture, glad I wouldn't just stand by to let her get hauled off. The Doctor chuckled, "Well I don't think we have to worry about that. I'm not even human. Neither is Adler. Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me. Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there," he pointed to a man shoveling what appeared to be horse droppings. "They've got recycling."

He pointed out another similarity as we walk past a couple of men talking around a water barrel, "Water cooler moment."

A man dressed in black robes screamed at the passer-byers in front of us, his arm flailing around. With wild eyes he preached about the end of days, "...and the world will be consumed by flame!"

"Global warming," the Doctor pointed to the preacher who deflated at his comment. He didn't see the response as he was too busy jumping around excitedly. " Oh, yes, and... entertainment! Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark right next to…," he scanned the area looking for a familiar landmark before snatching Martha's hand and then mine in his grip. We laugh a bit as he dragged us along after him, racing down the dirt street. Turning a corner we came to a stop. Before us, rising like a mountain in a sea of houses, was a large circular structure—an elizabethan stadium basking in the moonlight and painted by torch light. The Doctor grinned with excitement, "Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe; it's a tetra-decagon—14 sides—containing the man himself."

He twirled around to sway smugly from side to side, watching our combined reactions. Oh wow I'm actually going to meet someone famous! I mean I'm more of an Edgar Allen Poe girl, but still Shakespeare! Although it was agonizingly painful to read in high school as the class had the collective attention span of a fly, I'd finished the book by the time they were on page ten. But, here I was, actually going to see the plays when they were new. A whole new level of fan crossed my mind. Martha stared at the building in awe, "Whoa, you don't mean...is Shakespeare in there?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor held out his arms to Martha and I, "Miss Jones, will you accompany me to the theatre?"

Martha appeared smitten, probably reading to much into the gesture, and linked arms with him, "Yes, Mr. Smith, I will!"

He then extended the same courtesy to me, "Miss Adler, fancy going to the theatre?"

Grinning like a cheshire cat I latched onto his arm, "I thought you'd never ask."

Making our way down the street to the globe we all walked arm in arm, looking like a bunch of odd dressed loons. Which gained us stares from the locals, though admittedly it probably wasn't due to us appearing crazy, but more with the fact that a man was accompanying not one but two women, they most likely assumed he was some roguish Rake. Admittedly he did slightly resembled one. And none the wiser of our surroundings he grinned on, "When you two get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare."

Martha laughed, "Then I could get sectioned!"

I looked across the Doctor to her and smiled, "Don't listen to him. He almost got himself sectioned for doing the exact same thing. Remember he was talking about Ben when you met for the second time."

He pouted as Martha and I snickered.

* * *

><p>When we finally arrived at the globe theatre The crowd started funnel through the entrance moving us with them. As we approached the collectors a thought popped into my head, "Doctor how are we going to get in if we don't have any money?"<p>

He looked down at me like the idea hadn't occurred to him till just then, "Oh I'm sure I'll think of something before we get to the collectors," he warily informed all the while patting down his brown jacket. He got his 'aha!' face and he pulled out what looked to be a few coins. When we got to the collector the Doctor asked, "How much?"

"A penny per person for the pit, if you wish to view from the galleries you'll put another penny into the collectors box as you pass him on the stairs. The higher you go the more it'll cost," the man replied.

"I think the pit should be fine, what do you think," he turned to the two of us. "Fine by me," I nodded. "As long as we get to go," Martha grinned. He threw three coins into the wooden box the man was holding and lead us down the hallway till it opened up into the pit. Which seemed to be aptly named as that's what it smelt like, arm pits. Although I don't think that's what they had in mind when naming it. As I examined the room I see that the three levels above us were just as packed with people is it was down in the dirt and hay covered pit. It appeared to be a full house tonight.

Beautiful red banners clung to the ceiling partially hiding some of the upper crowd. A few women were even wearing masks, which if I remember correctly only prosperous women wore to hide there identities at such occasions due to the stigma labeled on these play by the church. Gazing at the wooden stage I noticed there were no chairs set up on the side, indicating there were no rich nobles in the house. Pity, I was hoping to get a twofer and see possibly another famous person. What! I know a thing or two about history. Not only was it my favorite class I also have an awful addiction to period drama's, one that I seriously need to kick.

"So what play is on tonight," I ask excitedly, bouncing on my feet. Before the Doctor could get a word in the crowd started roaring with excitement as a man traipsed from behind the velvet curtains onto the stage. They hushed as he signaled with his hand for quiet, "Tonight for your entertainment we present to you Loves Labour's Lost written by our very own William Shakespeare!"

The crowd boisterously cheered as the man then exited to the left and a few stage hands added a couple props to the set before hurriedly rushing behind the curtains. "Well I guess that answers your question didn't it," the Doctor leaned down to smiled into my ear. I jump slightly as his breath tickled and cover said ear, brushing of any awkwardness brought about by his action, smiling back in return.

* * *

><p>As the play came to a close, the performers took to the stage once more, filing from behind the curtains, bowing and waving to the cheering audience. Every body clapped exuberantly as Martha and I practically jumping up and down. The spectacle, the pageantry, the drama, I would seriously recommend traveling back in time to watch the original Shakespearean plays. It was the only way to go. I think once the Doctor dropped us back off to our respective homes I was going to divulge the rest of my life into making a time machine of my own, just so I can go and watch all of these plays. Maybe even go and watch a choice few other plays as well. Oh! Maybe even go watch Frank Sinatra sing his first hit live. That'd be an experience.<p>

"Oh my god that was wicked awesome! Wait till I tell Alissa. She'll be so jealous," I laughed, squeezing the Doctors arm lightly. I'm so full of excitement at that moment I felt as if I could fly, not that I'd test out that theory. I'd most definitely hit the ground with a Splat! Damn gravity and messing with my mojo.

"I know that was amazing! Just amazing. It's worth putting up with the smell. And those are men dressed as women, yeah," Martha giggled from the other side of the Doctor. He grinned up at the stage, "London never changes."

I chuckled at that. "Where's Shakespeare? I wanna see Shakespeare," Martha shouted into the din. "Me too," I agreed. Raising our fists into the air we began cheering loudly, "Author! Author!"

The Doctor swiveled his gaze between us as we stop our chanting. I beamed having way to much fun while Martha on her part looked away sheepishly, "Do people shout that? Do they shout 'Author'?"

Then, as if to answer her question, a man behind Martha took up to chant the same word as we soon found it spread across the theatre. Everyone loudly called out for the man. The Doctor looked around, quirking a brow, "Well...they do now."

Suddenly the audience went wild as what could only be the man himself sauntering through the door in the middle of the stage background. He jumped up and took an exaggerated bow before blowing kisses to his fans. I have to say he looked nothing like his portraits. Though he had the same beard and mustache even that spiffy piratey earring but he had a full head of hair, that was more blonde than dark brown. He appeared altogether very roguish, in a good way of course. I decided to take a discreet picture or two, for scrap booking purposes of course. Nothing to do with the fact of using it to get Alissa to do my house hold chores for a month. After all it's not like Shakespeare was her _'most favorite author of all time'_ or anything.

Martha watched the man ham it up on the stage confused, "He's a bit different from his portraits."

I playfully tapped her shoulder, "Much better looking though, don't you think."

She smiled back, "Oh, most definitely."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the two of us, "It's always about the looks isn't."

I continued watching Shakespeare as he waved to the crowd, "Not really. I'm more of a brains kind of girl myself. I like guys who can carry on a decent conversation, looks are just a bonus. Oh! And he's got to have a sense of humor. Although, it doesn't really matter on what my preferences are since I'm not really a romantic relationship person. Alissa say's I have commitment issues but I'm just a cautious person is all. I've had enough heart ache in my life, I'd rather not add to it."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Though, even if he wanted to, it would have been too hard to hear anything over the crowd as they bolstered in noise. So he turned back at the stage, saving the information for a more appropriate time. It was then Martha eyed the Doctor up and down when he wasn't watching, veiled lust hidden underneath the look, "Brains huh?"

Unaware of the feelings stirring next to him the Doctor leaned over to comment to me, grinning as he watched Shakespeare, "Genius. He's a genius - THE genius. The most human Human that's ever been. Now we're gonna hear him speak. Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words."

And, just like that, Shakespeare yelled over the crowd, shattering his belief, "Shut your big fat mouths!"

The room erupted with laughter, including myself. Oh, that was not what I had been expecting from him. I look over at the Doctor's crestfallen face and almost laughed louder. Poor guy, I don't think he was expecting that either. He sighed, "Oh, well."

Martha patted his shoulder in comfort, "You should never meet your heroes."

I grinned, "I don't know, I think I like Shakespeare even more this way. He's a hoot."

They both gazed at me questionably, "Hoot?"

"Oh, shut up," I playfully bumped the Doctor with my hip. That seemed to uplift his spirit a bit. "You have excellent taste! I'll give you that," Shakespeare pointed to a man near the front, "Oh, that's a wig!"

The crowd exploded with belts of laughter. The atmosphere reminded me that of the Rocky Horror Picture Show on a Saturday night. Loud, rambunctious, infectious, and loads of fun! I wondered if the Doctor or Martha have ever gone to one. Maybe I can get him to brings us to one showing at harvard square before he sent us home if he hadn't seen it. I bet he'd get a kick out of the 'time warp' song.

Shakespeare waved the crowd to lower their noise. "I know what you're all saying. 'Loves Labour's Lost', that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops," he snapped his fingers, "Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius."

He was halfway through a bow, ready to leave, but abruptly jerked upright. This caused the crowd to 'oo' before quickly going silent. "When," he paused, gazing at all the faces before him, "Tomorrow night."

The cast blinked from the sidelines stunned at the announcement, the audience however emitted into another round of cheers. I guessed they weren't expecting that, but neither was I considering the fact that this play doesn't continue on with a sequel. Shakespeare grinned, shouting over the noise, "The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it 'Loves Labour's Won'!"

The Doctor stared silently at the man while Martha clapped excitedly with the rest of the crowd. I just stare at the author confused. As the clapping continued the stage emptied, leaving a question hanging in the air. One that only tow of us were privy to. Soon we're funneled back out of the theatre as the rest of the crowd started leaving. "I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of 'Loves Labour's Won'," Martha pondered, turning her attention to the Doctor. "But wasn't it just a rumor though," I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "Exactly — the lost play. It doesn't exist — only in rumors. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. No one knows why," he frowned with a puzzled look. Somehow I felt another adventure coming on. Hooray, somehow my trip seem to keep stretching, not that I'm complaining of course. I guessed Ali was right, I am full of dumb luck.

"Have you got a mini-disk or something? We could tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint," Martha smiled with the idea. The Doctor turned to look down at her disapprovingly. "No."

"That would be bad," she asked, squirming underneath his disappointment. "Yeah," he answered, "Yeah."

She deflated at the admonishment. "Not that anyone would believe it's Loves Labour's Won. They'd just think it's a bunch of student actors making a rendition of what they perceived it would have been had the play ever been found," I told Martha, trying to make her not feel so to bad about the idea. After all, the thought may have cross my mind as well, it would be nice to not have to worry about bills but if making money off of things from our trips was a rule the Doctor had I'd follow it. Seemed only fair. And it would appear that my attempt at comfort worked since she chuckled in return. "Yeah probably," Martha paused, "Well, how come it disappeared in the first place?"

The Doctor sighed, as if he had been debating something and her question had finally decided it, "Well, I was just gonna give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer."

I gazed up at the night sky and smiled. Knew it! Another adventure. "So what do we do now," I asked, trying to hide my excitement. "Well, find Shakespeare of course," the Doctor grinned, removing his hands from his pockets before racing off into the Old London night. I looked to Martha and she looked at me, with a quick smile we then chase after him.

* * *

><p>Five taverns, three bars, two brothels, and one theatre later we arrive at the Elephant Inn; which a lovely lady of the night had told us was where Shakespeare happened to be staying. Although, I didn't exactly appreciate it when she insinuated I should get a job at her brothel stating as she put it,<em> I'd make good coin<em>. And I didn't think Martha like it so much when the lady started rubbing herself up against the Doctor. Not so sure how the Doctor felt about that, though he did awkwardly try to disentangle her from his side.

Moving up the steps, the Doctor raced up the rickety wooden stairs at an alarmingly fast pace. Briefly I had to wonder if he was part gazelle. When us girls finally reached the top the Doctor was already knocking on the frame of an open door, "Hello! Excuse me! I'm not interrupting, am I? Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?"

Catching up Martha and I trailed in behind him. Although Martha admittedly was blocking my view. Shakespeare looked up with frustration. "Oh no, no, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove—," he stopped as Martha peaked around the Doctor and he caught sight of her. "Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me."

The Doctor looks between the two of them, giving me just enough space to see Shakespeare myself. Cool! He waved the two men sitting in chairs, rushing them out, "You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go."

A woman, dressed in barmaid clothes, patted them both on the shoulders with a wry smile, "Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muse."

Martha smirked at his approval approaching the table causing Will to sit to attention, "Sweet lady."

She sat down next to him as the Doctor and I took the other two open chairs. AS wood scratched against wood Shakespeare looked over and his eyebrows jump in surprise when he finally noticed my presence. His eyes, heated, wandered up and down my wiry frame. "How rude of me to not acknowledge such beauty as it glides into the room. And one so voluptuous too."

My voice cracked, "What?"

Was Shakespeare hitting on me! His gaze started to linger a little to long for my liking in a certain female area. "Oi! Eyes up here buddy."

He smirked, "Such unusual clothes. So...fitted."

Martha smiled at the attention he know placed upon her and quickly rattled off something, "Um, verily, forsooth, egads."

The Doctor's scrunched with disbelief as he leaned over shaking his head. "No, no, don't do that. Don't," he informed with a whisper. Pulling out a small black leather wallet he flipped it open to Shakespeare showing a him the paper inside, "I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS and these are my companions, Miss Martha Jones and Miss Echo Adler."

Will rested his head smugly onto his folded hands, held up by his elbows on the table, and pointed to the wallet, "Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank."

The Doctor looked astounded, glancing between the other man and his _bit of paper_, before smiling impressed, "Oh, that's...very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius."

Martha squinted her eyes at it, "No, it says so right there. Sir Doctor, Martha Jones and Echo Adler. It says so."

Deciding to give it a try, I peered over at it but was met with an array of things. One moment it said what Martha had stated, the next nothing, and then somethings I couldn't even make out, they were like a bunch of random shapes. It's like it was flickering. I had to look away as it was starting to make my eyes ache. Pinching them shut I rubbed them together. Stupid paper.

"Psychic paper. Um, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch," the Doctor bemoaned before turing towards me as he put the psychic paper away. "You all right Echo?"

"Yeah the paper just made my eyes hurt was all. Kept flickering between shapes and stuff," I blinked a couple of times banishing the pain away. "Really? Huh, that's a new one. It could have something to do with your unknown heritage. That'll help narrow it down."

Ah, and again I'm reminded of my new found alienness. Resting my head on my right hand I pouted. I'd almost forgotten to. Will just sat before us perplexed, "Psychic. Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More to the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady and this fiery haired vixen?"

I furrow my eyebrows and mouthed the words 'vixen' to the Doctor. He just shrugged but I could tell he was slightly amused. Martha, on the other hand, appeared slightly appalled. "What did you say?"

Will looked caught, "Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric…"

The Doctor emitted a puff of frustration and ran a hand threw his hair. I tried not to laugh at the scene taking place. Martha, finding it a bit entertaining, chuckled, "I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"It's political correctness gone mad," the Doctor rubbed his right eye thinking ups some lie, "Um, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia."

"And the fair skinned beauty, with her strange accent and colorful clothing, is she from there as well," he looked towards the Doctor. I smiled, it wasn't his fault that he asked the man of the group. After all that's just how the things went during this time period. "She has a name you know and can speak for herself quite well thank you," I quipped, "and to answer your question yes. I'm from a different part of Freedonia."

He leaned closer to me with a hungry smile, "Oh I'm sure you can say a lot of things with that mouth."

Speaking of mouths, the Doctor's was hanging slightly open at Will's insinuation while Martha _tried_ not to appear so amused. I, however, could feel my cheeks heating up with embarrassment, I've never really learned how to handle male attraction very well. Will on the other hand looked like the cat had that just caught a mouse, his smiling growing with my coloring. Scratching the back of my neck I shifted in my seat, starting to get a bit uncomfortable. So I turned to Martha pleading silently for help. Instead, I just received a great big smile from her. Wills eyes continued to roam my features so I turned to the only other person for help. But before the Doctor could do anything a man could be heard creating a ruckus in the hall. "Excuse me!"

A large wealthy male dressed in his finest robes bursted into the room quite upset. Hooray, saved by the fat man! "Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behavior. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mr Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed."

Will scratched at his nose, insulting him, "Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it 'round"

"I don't work to your schedule," he bellowed, "you work to mine. The script, now!"

"I can't."

This didn't seem to be the right thing to say as the man stomped towards the exit, shouting as he went, "Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled!"

"It's all go 'round here, isn't it," Martha commented. The large man stood by the outside of the doorway and sneered. "I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, 'Love's Labours Won' will never be played," he threatened, storming from view. There was an awkward moment of silence for a while, until I spoke up. After all I'm known as the killer of silence back home. I clapped my hands together, "Well, that was anti-climactic."

"Yes, I suppose it was," the Doctor sighed, thinking that it'd be something different that would end Love's Labours Won. "He wasn't very nice," Martha piped in. Shakespeare leaned back into his chair with a sigh, grabbing a cup of alcohol on his way. "Lynley can be a right bastard, but please don't let him spoil the mood."

His eyes shift between Martha and I as he drank from the cup, little beads of the drink spilling onto his beard. She took a swig from her mug, "Well, then...mystery solved. That's 'Love's Labours Won' over and done, thought it might be something more, you know...more mysterious."

A man screamed, piercing through the conversation and the echoes of his pain shattered the silence of the night. It was soon accompanied by a chorus of others, voicing their panic. Everyone in the room tensed, bolting out of their chairs with the loud scrapping of wood, rushing out the door. Racing down the stairs, descending the steps two at a time, we saw the rich man from earlier in a small town square holding his throat, spitting up water. Martha stared on in shock, "It's that Lynley bloke."

He shuffled towards us, reaching out with meaty fingers for help. I looked at him confused, "It's like he's choking, but the water won't stop coming up."

"What's wrong with him? Leave it to me—I'm a Doctor," he speed over to his side, realizing the man couldn't answer him. "So am I! Near enough," Martha, followed after, steadying Lynley's other side trying to keep him up. I sighed, feeling quite useless, and mumbling to myself, "It's situations like these that I regret going to school to be an artist."

The rotund man fell back onto the ground as his weight got the better of the two. The Doctor left his side to run down the street, searching for some invisible culprit, as Martha leaned over to listened for a heart beat on the victim. "Gotta get the heart going," she mused to herself, "Mr Lynley, c'mon, can you hear me? You're gonna be all right."

She prepared to give him mouth to mouth when water started spilling from it as she opened it. The Doctor took one last look around and came back to the scene, bending down to examine him. Martha jumped away as the water continued to spill forth, "What the hell is that?"

"I've never seen a death like it. His lungs are full of water — he drowned and then... I dunno, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow," the Doctor stood up and and turned to the woman from earlier in the inn, the owner I believe, "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."

She nodded slightly shaken, "Yes, sir."

A young woman descended the stairs of the inn and gripped her shoulder, "I'll do it, ma'am."

The owner nodded her consent and sent the girl off who scurried to retrieve a constable. I approached Martha as the Doctor crouched back down next to the body. "And why are you telling them that," Martha asked skeptically. After all that was far from how the man died. The Doctor looked at both of us grimly, "This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft."

"Thanks, rather not have a witch hunt. I don't suppose it'd be much fun after all," I crouch over so only they heard my response. Martha nodded in agreement before looking back down at the guy, "Okay, what was it then?"

He gazed at both of us very seriously and paused, "Witchcraft."

I let out I low groan of frustration, of course it was.

* * *

><p>Once we filed back up the staircase of the inn, we followed Shakespeare into his room. Tiredly walking over, he sat back in his chair as the three of us stood next to the book case. The female owner from earlier passed the doorway and addressed our designated driver. "I got you a room, Sir Doctor. You, Miss Jones and Miss Adler are just across the landing," she smiled as she gestured back towards the stairs. When I realized the Doctor wasn't going to reply, I smiled back at her with appreciation, "Thank you."<p>

She grinned, happy for the acknowledgement, and bowed her head lightly before leaving the room with it's hanging silence. Nobody talked. The Doctor silently brooded, going though his database of a mind for answers. Martha watched him worriedly with a tight expression crossing her arms over her chest, most likely miss reading his face. I, in turn, gazed out the crosshatched windows, watching the candle light dance across the panes. That guy may have been a jerk, but it didn't mean he deserved to die.

Shakespeare sighed taking a swig of grog, "Poor Lynley. So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia, where a woman can be a doctor? Or even be educated to become an artist?"

Martha smirked unfolding her arms, "Where a woman can do what she likes."

"Live however she likes," I added. Will, changed his line of inquiry, homing in on the Doctor, "And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?"

"I do a lot of reading," he stated with a monotone voice. "A trite reply," the playwright nodded, "Yeah, that's what I'd do."

The Doctor smirked a little at that, sending the other man a wink. Will then swiveled his attention over to Martha, "And you, you look at him like you're surprised he exists. He's as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me."

His gaze then fell upon me, baring down with sharp eyes. I stiffened knowing it was now my turn. "And you who hides so easily with a smile, keeping those around you at arms length, but never letting them know it. You even go so far as to hide from yourself. Leaves one to wonder why?"

Martha became a bit upset with his revelations, not liking that someone could dissect her thoughts so easily, "I think we should say good night."

I followed her out, feeling the same sentiment. I don't think I could take the collective stares of the men in the room trying to unravel my soul. _Gulp_.

* * *

><p>When we find our room Martha took one look, noting the worn wooden furniture and musty smell, before sarcastically making a comment, "Well isn't this posh."<p>

I chuckled with agreement before running over to the bed to jump onto it, "Oh yeah."

Snuggling onto the top layer, I try to get comfortable on the straw mattress, which was a slight step up from the hospital chairs. Even with the blankets being a bit scratchy. Martha started wandering the room, picking at something on the wall, "So…," she trailed off looking for small talk, "How'd you meet the Doctor?"

Leaning up, onto my elbows, I watched her move about, "He broke into my apartment and woke me from a dead sleep. Scared the bageezus out of me, I had thought he was a murderer. Almost jumped out a third story window to get away. But then found out he was ok. Ended up running from human melting fog. Found out I was an alien. Then wrapped it all up by kicking some cybermen ass and saving his life. And that about sums it up."

"That's it, nothing else," she asked doubtfully. I got the feeling she was subtly hinting at some hidden subtext, but I couldn't quite make out what that was. "That's it," I shrugged.

"Well, what about you?"

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, "What about me?"

"Do you have-well I don't know. A boyfriend or girlfriend? Are you in a relationship is what I'm asking."

Well. That was kind of personal, but I figure she was trying to bond so I answered anyways, "Nope, never been in one. Why are you looking for one?"

It was a joke but she hadn't gotten it as she sputtered and freaked trying to find something to say, that was till I smiled that is. Martha shot me a half reprimanding half amused look shaking her head at the jest. But then the other part of my sentence sunk in and her features changed to astonishment, "Never? Really?"

"Why do people find that so hard to believe," I bemoaned with a huff, falling back into the bed. "Have you ever looked at yourself," she pointed, "Makes it a little unbelievable."

At that prompt I began inspecting myself, gazing down at my limbs, still the same as always. Still wearing the same clothes since I'd first left the TARDIS, not my fault. Wasn't much time to change outfits earlier. If I was honest with myself I'd have to say I was too pale, but that's what happened when you spent all your time indoors. Truth be told I didn't blame Will for staring at my chest earlier since this bra, now that I noticed, seemed to create a hefty amount of cleavage. My bad Will.

Now I was never one to care for vanity, so I'd never say it out loud, but I was no plain Jane. Not to say I'd categorize my self as a _'beauty'_ either, but in my opinion I was 'ok' to look at. Of course, seeing as I saw this face and body all the time it kind of desensitized my opinion on the matter, to the point that now all I see is just a person staring back at me in the mirror. Nothing else. A feeling I think everyone eventually reached. So I guessed my opinion wasn't worth jack. Finally figuring out a reply I shrugged my shoulders at her, "Meh."

Martha just rolled her eyes before plopping down at the edge of the bed. "Well, since we're gossiping on the topic. Have you ever...you know..."

She made a few random hand gestures, like some sort of improper sign language. I wasn't quite following her logic, "No, I don't know. Are you asking if I've played charades?"

She looked exasperated before sheepishly leaning closer to me scanning the area as she moved to check if anyone was walking past the room, "you know...had sex."

I jumped away from her as if the question burned, which it sort of did since romantic relations of any kind were my kryptonite. "What! No!"

Blood rushed to my face as she looked at me with disbelief, "I thought all Americans had once they reached high school?"

"Hey," I shouted offended, "that's stereotyping! Besides that's obviously not the case as you can plainly see."

She waved her hands around in surrender, "Sorry, sorry. How 'bout we change the topic then."

I sigh with relief, settling back down onto the bed, "Sure, sounds good. What do you wan to talk about then?"

"Alright, how do you feel about the Doctor then," she smiled coyly, like she'd been waiting to ask that all day. "He's cool."

She blinked shifting a bit, like she was gauging my answer as she got up to walk over to the wardrobe and examined it, "I mean do you like him?"

"Well, obviously, I said he was cool," I pointed at her, "I like you too."

"No, I mean do you _'like'_ him _'like'_ him."

Didn't seem like we changed topics very much as we're now back on the romantic train. I have a feeling Martha was asking all these questions specifically to see how much of a threat I would be in an endeavor to seduce the Doctor, should she try. Before I could appropriate a proper response however said man decided now was a good time to come in. If only he had came in sooner.

She shot me a face that clearly stated _'I will get my answer later'_ as she turned to greet the Doctor, "It's not exactly five-star, is it?"

He closed the door firmly behind him, needing only a millisecond to take in the room, "Oh, it'll do. I've seen worse."

Martha tilted her head at him, "I haven't even got a toothbrush."

The Doctor, at her statement, patted himself down. "Ooh," he pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Martha, "Contains Venusian spearmint."

She smirked at the item before taking a glance towards the bed, "So, who's going where? I mean, there's only one bed."

"We'll manage. C'mon," Climbing over me he flopped into the middle of the bed. I skooched a little to give him more room, not that there was much to give on my side to begin with. Martha's eyes glitter suggestively, as she stared at him, gaze dancing across his body, the Doctor all the more oblivious. Not that I was one to criticize, I'm captain oblivious after all.

Sauntering to the only open side but stopped as there wasn't enough room. "So, magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's a little bit Harry Potter."

The Doctor finally stopped staring into space and looked over at her and smiled, "Wait till you read Book Seven. Oh, I cried."

I laughed, "I holed myself in my room for a week. Didn't come out till I ran out of fruit loops."

"But is it real, though? I mean, witches, black magic and all that, it's real," Martha asked expectantly. "'Course it isn't," the Doctor scoffed at her. "Well, how am I supposed to know," she argued, staring up at the slightly cobwebbed covered ceiling, "I've only just started believing in time travel. Give me a break."

"Looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be," he looked at her questioningly, "Are you gonna stand there all night?"

Martha climbed in next to him on the bed, "Budge up a bit, then."

We both moved over as much as we could to the point that we're all laying down shoulder to shoulder. She promptly pivoted towards the Doctor ogling him, "Sorry, there's not much room. Us tw-three here, same bed. Tongues will wag."

I almost felt bad for her as she curled up to his side but the Doctor was clearly oblivious to the fact she even spoke, "There's such a thing as psychic energy, but a human couldn't channel it like that. Not without a generator the size of Taunton and I think we'd have spotted that."

He shifted over so Martha and he were face to face. There wasn't much space between them save air. Oh, she must be enjoying that. I chuckled quietly to myself and shut my eyes, listening to the conversation.

"No. There's something I'm missing, Martha," he halted, "Something really close, staring me right in the face and I can't see it. Rose would know. A friend of mine, Rose. Right now, she'd say exactly the right thing."

I felt the Doctor abruptly move away from her, his shoulder bumping mine. "Still, can't be helped. Your both novices, never mind. I'll take you all back home tomorrow."

I heard Martha huff and blow something out, "Great!"

Well, if I thought it had been awkward before now I knew was clearly wrong. Was I gonna let that keep me from sleep? Hell no! God how I miss sleep.

* * *

><p>I had no idea how long I slept, but the next thing I knew a scream pierced the night and my face kissed the floor. I groaned opening my eyes, "Urgh, damn floor, we have got to stop meeting like this."<p>

"Sorry," the Doctor called out as his feet disappeared out the door. Scrambling up I chased after Martha as she made it out of the room before me. I scurried after them, down the hallway, back into Shakespeare's room. I stumbled in to find the Doctor leaning over the innkeeper lying dead on the floor.

"Wha'? What was that?" At Martha's gasp I followed her point of view out an open window. There, riding into the glow of the full moon, was something I always thought I'd see in Salem. I heard a cackle as a stereotypical witch rode off on her broom. Of course my only thought was if England had Halloween?

The Doctor checked the woman's pulse, "Her heart gave out. She died of fright."

"Doctor," Martha called out. At her urgency he rushed over to join her by the window. I walked over and grabbed a chair by the table trying to keep my eyes awake. I still wasn't quite alert. "What did you see," the Doctor asked.

"A witch."

* * *

><p>After a constable had came to take the innkeeper away, at Shakespeare's behest we had went back to our room and slept for two more hours till the sunlight had started flittering in. The Doctor, who I had a feeling never went to sleep, woke us promptly, not being able to sit around anymore, and ushered us back to Will's room. It didn't look like he'd slept any either. In fact, he was just staring out the window, brooding. Not that I could blame him. Someone did just die in his room last night after all. It looked like they may have been close too.<p>

The rest of us sat at the table, mulling over last nights events when Will finally spoke up, "Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place. We all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit."

He came to sit down across from us, his once bright blue eyes filled with mourning. The Doctor wiped his face with frustration, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Will looked pleasantly surprised at his words, "I might use that."

"You can't. It's someone else's."

"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright and they were both connected to you," Martha pointed out the facts. Will turned to her clearly upset by her allegation, "You're accusing me?"

"No, but I saw a witch, big as you like, flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches."

Will's face scrunched up with confusion, "I have? When was that?"

Now there was a spoiler alert. Leaning over the Doctor whispered into Martha's ear, "No, not quite yet."

Leaning back into his chair, paying no mind to the earlier comment, a memory popped into Will's head that he shared with the room, "Peter Street spoke of witches."

"Who's Peter Street," Martha asked. Oh, I knew this one, finally years of listening to Ali's obsession with Shakespearean facts came in handy, "He's the Architect."

Will nodded, "Right, he was our builder. He sketched the plans for the Globe."

The Doctor put on his thinking cap, mulling over things in his head till he could no longer keep them in. "The architect. Hold on," light bulb, "The architect! The architect!"

He slammed his hand on the table with success. "Oh, you're brilliant," reaching over he grabbed my face and proceeded to kiss my forehead before jumping up, "The Globe! Come on!"

He rushed out of the room in a brown blur of excitement. Martha got up and shot me what I believed was a jealous look before following him out. I didn't even know what I had done. Of course that probably wasn't true, there was one thing that happened. I scrunched my face up and rubbed my forehead, it's not like I had wanted him to do it, geez. Since I wasn't moving fast enough Shakespeare helped me up and pulled me out the door. Well, off to the globe. Again.

* * *

><p>When we arrived Will thrust the front doors open leading us into the pit. Not a single soul was in the empty theatre. So I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures, but had to immediately stop when I noticed Will staring at me from up on the stage. Hurriedly I put the device away. Don't know how I'd explain a camera to a man from his century.<p>

Martha and I moved up the steps to join him though. She went to stand next to him, gazing up at the balconies above while I plopped myself down and hung my feet off the stage. I absentmindedly swung them about watching the Doctor examine the room from in the pit. He spun around gazing at the structure, "The columns there, right? Fourteen sides. I've always wondered but I never asked...tell me, Will, why fourteen sides?"

"It was the shape Peter Street thought best, that's all," Will reasoned, "Said it carried the sound well."

"Why does that ring a bell? Fourteen…," the Doctor mumbled in thought, the sound carrying up the stage. "There are fourteen lines in a sonnet," Martha piped in, trying to be helpful. "So there is. Good point. Words and shapes following the same design," he started pacing as his thoughts raced from his mouth, "Fourteen lines, fourteen sides, fourteen facets…Oh, my head. Tetradecagon... think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"

"Well words have power," I pointed out collapsing back onto the stage, outstretching my arms. As they talked I watched the clouds traveling by overhead, changing and evolving into new creatures, all the while listening. "This is just a theatre," Will stated.

"Oh, but a theater's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time...Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them. You can change people's minds just with words in this place. Like Adler said words have power and if you exaggerate that…," the Doctor trailed off once more in thought, as if he were on the precipice of the answer but couldn't quite reach it. "It's like you're police box. Small wooden box with all that POWER inside," Martha smirked. The Doctor swiveled around to grin up at her, "Oh. Oh, Martha Jones, I like you. Tell you what, though. Peter Street would know. Can I talk to him?"

Will exhaled deeply, gazing down at the wood paneling, "You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place...lost his mind."

"Why? What happened," Martha turned to him confused. He looked up, "Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled."

"Where is he now," the Doctor asked, though his face looked as if he already knew the answer. Will's face slightly hardened as he spoke the name, "Bedlam."

Martha looked at Shakespeare as if he had just spoke gibberish, "What's Bedlam?"

I turned my head towards her. I thought she was supposed to be a medical student. How could she not know what bedlam was. Hell, I lived in America and even I knew what it was. "It's the wacky waffle house."

She just looked down at me confused as did Will at my explanation, so he gave one of his own, "Bethlem Hospital. The madhouse."

I lifted my arm up, "Like I said, the crazy farm."

"We're gonna go there. Right now. Come on," the Doctor raced up to the stage and grabbed my arm to pull me off, onto my feet. "Wait! I'm coming with you. I want to witness this all first hand," Will shouted, following after Martha as she jumped off. As we left two actors came waltzing into the pit and Will handed them the script he wrote last night, "Ralph, the last scene as promised. Copy it, hand it round. Learn it. Speak it. Back before curtain up. Remember, kid, project. Eyes and teeth- ."

What ever he said next I didn't hear as the Doctor, Martha and I exited the building onto the crowded street. As we slipped into a smaller side street, still just as busy as the other, Will managed to catch up with us and popped himself right between Martha and I. He gave an approving glance to the leather jacketed medical student, "So, tell me of Freedonia, where women can be doctors, writers, actors, even receive formal training to be artists."

"This country's ruled by a woman," Martha interjected, trying to make a point. Will scoffed, "Ah, she's royal. That's Gods business. Though you are a royal beauty."

Martha stopped, but still smiled all the while flattered, "Whoa, Nelly! I know for a fact you've got a wife in the country."

Oh, Martha he's from a different time. Most men have a little something on the side and it wasn't even looked at twice. In fact it would be considered the woman's fault should the affair come to light in the public. "But Martha, this is Town," Will smirked. She couldn't help but look flabbergasted by his je ne sais quoi. The Doctor turned around, fed up with the chatter slowing the group down, and stalked over to us, "Come on. We can all have a good flirt later."

Will examined the him up and down, "Is that a promise, Doctor?"

I slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle the laughter threatening to spill out. It appeared Will's sword swung both ways. The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Oh, 57 academics just punched the air. Now move!"

The rest of us smirked to each other and ran after him, shadowing the Doctor like baby ducks. Ha! That would make the Doctor the mama duck. Cute. Of course it was that thought that reminded me of a pair of PJ bottoms that were probably lost within the farthest depths of the TARDIS by now. I'm never gonna get them.

* * *

><p>For the fifteen minutes it took us reach bedlam Will and Martha decided to play twenty questions, which the Doctor didn't participate in since he was ahead of us the whole time, and I had tried my hardest to stay out of.<p>

I almost cried in relief when we'd made it to bedlam. Will affections, though nice, were starting to not only make me uncomfortable but were getting irritating. Once in the building the Doctor flashed his psychic paper at the gent in the lobby like area to let us see Peter. When we entered the _'wards'_ we were met with the loud haunting screams that echoed down the stone corridors. A jailor appeared seemingly out of no where to escort us, "Does my lord, Doctor, wish some entertainment while he waits? I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for yah. Bandog and Bedlam!"

"No, I don't!"

The jailor shrugged, not caring that he refused his _generous_ offer, "Well wait here, my lords, while I make him decent for the ladies."

He sulked away down the hallway, leaving us alone. The _'patients'_, and I use the term loosely, screamed and shouted at us to set them free. Their soiled and worn hands reached out from behind their barred rooms, grasping for us. I felt bad for the poor souls. People during this time didn't know how to treat the mental health issues they had. Some didn't even have anything really wrong with them either. If you had a 'behavioral' problem you could end up there, they'd think you possessed. Or maybe they were a dirty little secret a noble family wished to make go away. Either way not everyone deserved to be in there.

The Doctor leaned on the wall while we waited, deep in thought. Martha, however, rounded onto Will upset with the scene unfolding, "So this is what you call a hospital, yeah? Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry? And you put your friend in here?"

Will rolled his eyes, "Oh, and it's all so different in Freedonia."

"But you're clever," she argued, "Do you honestly think this place is any good?"

"I've been mad," he shouted, upset she thought he had done this for the wrong reasons, "I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves its purpose."

"Mad in what way?"

I gently grasped her shoulder, trying to stop her. "Martha," I shook my head warningly. She really shouldn't pry so much, couldn't she see he was hurting. "You lost your son," the Doctor interjected softly, finally speaking up. Will's face crumpled with grief, "My only boy. The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there."

Martha stiffened realizing what she had brought up, "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be...oh, that's quite good."

"You should write that down," the Doctor smirked, hearing the famous quote. Shakespeare looked over, "Hm, maybe not. A bit pretentious?"

The jailor called from down the corridor, "This way, m'lord!"

Walking forth, we followed him to a cell near the end. The jingling of keys could be heard as the door is unlocked with a loud metallic click. In the middle of the room a man sat on a barren straw cot, the only thing keeping him warm were the dirty torn rags he wore. He faced away from us, staring at the floor catatonic. He rocked back and fourth in small movements. We entered in behind the jailor, "They can be dangerous, m'lord. Don't know their own strength."

The Doctor glowered at the man, raising his voice "I think it helps if you don't whip them! Now get out!"

The jailor looked upset, but left all the same, locking the door behind him, and us in. The jingling of his keys faded away into the maddening screams of Bedlam. The Doctor slowly approached poor Peter. The straw, thrown all over the floor, crunched beneath his feet. "Peter? Peter Street?"

He walked around Peter to crouch down to his eye level, though the other man made no move to look up from the spot he stared at. Will sighed sadly at the sight, "He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him."

The Doctor just watched the poor unresponsive fellow. Like he was weighing options on how to proceed. Finally he came to some decision and reached out, grasping the man's shoulder, "Peter?"

I jumped when his head shot up, eye's crazed and full of fear, his body shook like he wanted to say something but couldn't, as if some unknown force was preventing him. It was like he wasn't sure what was reality and what wasn't. The Doctor studied him grimly as he softly placed his hands on ether side of the man's skull. Peter's body began to slightly quiver but he made no move to pull away. The Doctor closed his eyes in concentration for a moment before opening them. "Peter, I'm the Doctor. Go into the past, one year ago. Let your mind go back, back to when everything was fine and shining," Peter sucked in a breathe of air, "Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A winter's tale. Let go. Listen. That's it, just let go."

Gently the Doctor began to lower the man to the cot before standing up, Peter stare up at him like a scared lost child. Martha covered her mouth in sympathy, while Will looked on in interest and hope. I stood by the corner silent as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. "Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches."

Peter's eyes widened and then he shakily nodded his head. Staring into nothingness he wetted his lips a couple of times, "Witches spoke to Peter. In the night, they whispered," he wiggled his fingers in his ears frantically, "Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. THEIR design! The fourteen walls — always fourteen. When the work was done-."

He laughed hysterically, "They sapped poor Peter's wits."

"Where did Peter see the witches," the Doctor inquired, "Where in the city?"

Peter looked so small and terrified by that point, he pursed his lips as if to hold the answer back. The Doctor crouched down again imploring him, "Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where were they?"

My stomach churned in knots as the air became heavy. A horrible sense of foreboding clung to the room. Especially as the man took in loud shallow breaths and turned to the ceiling, "All Hallows Street."

I gasped, where once had been thin air now was a witch, appearing right next to the Doctor. She sent Peter a malicious smile, "Too many words."

The Doctor bolted up and rushed over near Martha and Will. "What the hell," Martha backed up to the door. I went to join her but stopped when the witch started rolling her index finger in the air, "Just one touch of the heart."

And with that said she laid her hand upon Peter's chest as the Doctor screamed, "Nooooo!"

Peter let's out a shriek of pain as his body seized on the cot, the witch gasped in content. Almost as if her draining his life away gained her some sort of physical pleasure. Peter's eyes glossed over as he lets out a pitiful squeal, then as his last breath left him, ceased to be. My heart clenched in pain. Why'd I just stand there and watched him die. Why didn't I do anything?

Shakespeare almost laughed at the creature before us, "Witch! I'm seeing a witch!"

The woman squirmed in place, lifting her hands up once again, "Who would be next, hmm? Just one touch."

I clenched my fists at my side, my knuckles grew white with the force, "Why? Why did you kill him! He wasn't a threat to you. You didn't have to do that."

The witch just sneered, "He'd out lived his use. He was lucky we even let him live this long."

A heat began to bubble up from inside me, bubbling and boiling, "Lucky! You call that luck. You broke his mind, shattered his psyche and hollowed him out. Then you trapped what ever was left over in madness. That isn't luck that's hell."

By the time I'd finished talking my blood ran hot through my veins, searing it's way through my body. My heart thundered in my head, it was so loud I swore everyone else must have heard it as well. My fists were clenched even tighter than before, they felt like the skin would rip off. And that heat from earlier just kept on rolling up, building and building. It took all my will power not to jump over there and start beating her. And that freaked my out! I've never wanted to hit someone before. Why was I getting so angry? I didn't even know the man! And yet that look of pure terror was forever ingrained in my mind!

Suddenly a cool hand landed on my left shoulder. I peered over to see it was the Doctor. He gave off the impression of being slightly worried, but I couldn't be sure. I was never very sure about anything. It was then I notice Martha and Will looking at me startled. Looking slightly apologetic I let the Doctor pull me behind him. I frowned. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from."

He didn't say anything, just continued glaring at the witch. She cackled, "Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals."

Martha's face crumpled with fright as she ran for the doors, gripping the bars hard and shaking them frantically, "Let us out! Let us out!"

The Doctor didn't even bat an eyelash at her, "That's not gonna work. The whole building's shouting that."

The witch examined her jagged nails, waiting for the hysterics, "Who will die first, hmm? Will it be you?"

She jabbed a boney finger at me, her mouth curling into a malevolent smile. The Doctor stepped toward her, "Well, if you're looking for volunteers."

Martha yelled in protest, "No! Don't!"

Will didn't take his eyes of the crone, afraid she might appear next to him should he look away, "Doctor, can you stop her?"

Watching his somewhat confident stride a glimmer of hope sparked in my chest, "You have a plan right?"

"No mortal has power over me," She growled. The Doctor stuffed his hands into his coat as an almost angry excited look painted his countenance, "Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one—if I can just know you…"

"None of Earth has knowledge of us."

Ha! That's right none of earth, but the Doctor's not from earth so booyah. In your ugly shriveled up face. The Doctor seemed quite confidant now as the witch grew ever unsettled. "Then it's a good thing I'm here. Now think, think, think...Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy...ah, fourteen! That's it! Fourteen," he yelled. The old crone looked caught, she tried to talk, destroy his spirit before he could finish, but the Doctor wouldn't let her get a word in, "The fourteen stars of the Rexel planetary configuration! Creature, I name you Carrionite!"

She let out a high pitched screech as she faded into herself, convulsing at the name. Wow. Glad I don't think of the plans or we'd be dead. I would've went with the stereotypical water since she looked like a witch.

Martha watched him with awe, "What did you do?"

"I named her. The power of a name. That's old magic," the Doctor smugly answered, over annunciating the c. Now I could tell Martha was upset, after all the he had scoffed at her for believing it was real earlier, "But there's no such thing as magic."

"Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."

Well, that's not fair. I could use words, but not like that. And it wasn't not like I was smart enough to build a sonic screw driver. All I've got to defend myself is my SLR, some pencils, a sketch book and a slim jim. Oh and my _extreme conditions survival guide_. Never know when I'd need that, although I didn't think it quite covered Carrionites. Hmm...If I survive, I'd have to make a survivor's guide of my own. I'd call it_ 'The time travelers guide to surviving the universe.'_ Although it'd only market for a very small demographic.

"Use them for what?"

Oh right people were talking. Oops, my thoughts always seem to get away from me. Sorry Will. The Doctor got very quite, his face devoid of any emotion, "The end of the world."

The atmosphere tensed as silence loomed. The situation made quite clear. "Well, that sounds pleasant. Maybe we should go back to home base and problem solve there. Cause I don't know about you but I think I've had enough of this _lovely _scenery," I stated sarcastically, wringing my hands on my shoulder strap patiently waiting for the Doctor to open the cell. He ran a hand through his hair exasperated and saw Martha and Will looking about done with the place as well. Rummaging through his pocket he pulled out the screwdriver and soniced the door. We rushed out of that place faster than you could say AH.

* * *

><p>Once back on the street, the sun now setting to the east, the horrible facility was safely behind us. Martha and Will took to walking ahead a few yards, quietly talking to each other. Enough so that I couldn't quite make out there conversation. The Doctor however, instead of leading the pack, decided to hang back with me. I was to scared to even look over at him. I mean, I didn't do anything wrong, it's just I'm sort of embarrassed about my outburst. I very rarely get angry. Mainly because I'm a <em>go with the flow kind<em> of person and because when I did get angry it freaked people out. After all I'm such a smiley person.

"Echo."

I flinched. Ah, I thought he was deep in thought. Guess not. Plastering on a smile I looked over to the Doctor, "Yep?"

"Are you all right?"

"Of course I'm all right. I'm ok, really. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be."

He raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything. "What I am."

He continued to stare. Eyebrow firmly in place. "I am."

Brown eyes met blue not backing down. "Really."

He gave me that same look. My resolve slowly cracking. "I-I am!"

I pursed my mouth. Must. Look. Away. Can't. Keep. This. Up. Much. Longer. "Alright! Fine! I'm fine now but earlier I was upset. There you happy now," I groaned crossing my arms. He looked at me sort of amused, eyebrow still in its perch. I sighed and let my arms fall to the side. "All right I was more than upset. But they destroyed him. What if he had family. What if he was happy. And then they just took that all away like it was nothing. What really pissed me off was the fact that they just threw him away like some old toy. Like his life meant nothing. I won't apologize for what I said because that's how I feel. But I'm sorry if I upset anyone."

He stared, "Do you often get angry?"

I smirked, "Nope. Agitated, yes. Angry, no. I'm actually proud that I can count the times I've been truly angry on just one hand. Current incident included. Are you angry?"

"No, should I be?"

"No."

"Well, there you go."

A comfortable silence fell over us as we turned back ahead. Martha and Will still quietly chatting. I'm glad he wasn't mad, that would've put a damper on the outing. More so than the looming threat of the end of the world. I could deal with that, that's always happening from what I see on the news, but friends being upset with me, nope not so much. I smiled to myself. I wondered when I'd started thinking of him as a friend. Well, I guess it's not that hard he's a likable guy after all.

"Although," the Doctor leaned over to my ear, "I think you scared Martha and old Shakespeare there. Even the Carrionite. Well, maybe for a minute. Well, more like a second. Well, maybe a millisecond. But she was definitely scared."

I chuckled quietly. "I wasn't trying to scare anyone. Honest. A couple of my poor friends had the unlucky honor of seeing me angry once. Scared them too. Apparently when someone who's usually so mellow and childish gets angry it scares most people. Admittedly after that they never touched my soda. Not that that was why I was angry. They just figured it'd be something I would blow up over."

He smiled and patted my head affectionately. Next thing I knew he's run up ahead of Martha and Will yelling back to us, "Let's go. No more dawdling you three. World to save and all."

I snickered under my breath, wasn't he just dawdling as well. We hurry after him the rest of the way back.

* * *

><p>Once we entered Will's room I immediately plunked myself down at the table again. Martha however leaned on a cabinet as Will moved over to a bowl of water and splash it onto his face. Probably from running or to wash away the image of Peter's unfortunate end. The Doctor, the only one of us who never seemed to have to catch his breath, paced the room. Thinking. Maybe I could get the ball rolling, "Doctor what happened to the Carrionites?"<p>

He racked his brain for a few seconds as if searching for a mental file, "They disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend."

Will turned around wiping his face with a cloth, "Well, I'm going for real."

"I second that," I announced raising my hand up. Martha appeared confused, "But what do they want?"

"Oh, what does any bad guy want," I scoffed, "To take over the world."

The Doctor nodded in agreement, "Adler's right. A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft."

Martha rolled her eyes, "But how?"

The Doctor set his sights on Will, studying him expectantly, "I'm looking at the man with the words."

"Me," Will asked affronted, "But I've done nothing."

Martha examined him, "Hold on, though. What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?"

"Finishing the play."

The Doctor appeared to have thought of something, "What happens on the last page?"

All eyes fell onto Will who relented and spoiled the ending. "The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual," he paused as he thought about his script, then looked up surprised, "except those last few lines. Funny thing is...I don't actually remember writing them."

The Doctor had an 'aha' moment and shouted, "That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words. Like a spell, like a code. 'Love's Labours Won' — it's a weapon! The right combination of words, spoken at the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that."

Will smiled at his last comment. He must be receiving a lot of inspiration from the Doctor so I'm sure he was enjoying all of this to some extent. I clapped my hands together and stood, "Well if we're going to stop an invasion I think we're gonna need a map. Unless Will knows where Hallows Street is located."

"No sorry I don't. But," he walked over to a desk and rummaged through till he found what he was looking for. He came back over the table with a long scroll unfurling it, "I do have a map."

We all gathered around as the Doctor started searching for the street, eyes rapidly scanning names. He tapped the paper, "All Hallows Street. There it is. Martha, Adler, we'll track them down. Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play!"

"I'll do it," he reached over the table to shake the Doctors hand, "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."

Martha smiled, "Oh, don't complain."

Will Laughed heartily, "I'm not. It's marvelous. Good luck, Doctor."

The Doctor nodded and zoomed around us, Martha and I trekking behind him, "Good luck, Shakespeare. Once more unto the breach!"

Will called after us as we left, "I like that. Wait a minute...that's one of mine."

The Doctor turned around to poke his head back into the room, "Oh, just shift!"

* * *

><p>After we'd split up with Will we'd legged it through the deserted back allies of London till we came out to our destination. The Doctor, to his credit, only got us lost once. Well, he said we just got turned around but that's just a different way of saying your lost. As we scanned the street for a house that screamed 'witches live here' I couldn't help but shiver, nightfall had painted quite an ominous tone to the properties around us. They loomed like an ever present shadow. That didn't exactly sit well with my gut.<p>

"All Hallows Street, but which house," the Doctor turned in a circle scanning the surroundings. "The thing is, though...am I missing something here? The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me — I'm living proof," Martha waved her hands. "Time can be re-written though. We could be here one second and then gone the next," I uncrossed my arms and examine the houses before us. The Doctor beamed at me, "See Echo gets it."

Martha frowned, her lip pouting fourth as she sent a dirty look my way, "Yeah but I'm not Echo so explain."

The Doctor sighed, "Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux? I know! 'Back to the Future'! It's like 'Back to the Future'!"

"The film?"

"No, the novelization," he mocked sarcastically, "Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history."

"And he starts fading away," her eyes widen with the realization, "Oh my God, am I gonna fade?"

"You and the entire future of the human race. It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it. But which house," he stated, reinvestigating the area again as Martha joined him. Then, as if by it's own hand, a door opened to a two story home. Conveniently it's the house closest to me. I pointed it out, "Doctor."

He spun in my direction seeing the clue, "Ah, make that WITCH house."

I laughed at his bad pun, which caused a boyish grin to be sent in my direction before the he waltzed into the open house that was most likely a trap. Martha and I entered the threshold right behind him. Instead of searching the bottom floor the Doctor headed straight for the stairs. Although, from what I could see of the bottom floor, it was sparsely furnished. Nothing witchy. So upstairs seemed like the logical choice which was why we absconded up the staircase.

At the top there was a doorway covered with a dirty raggedy cloth obstructing the view. The Doctor pushed it aside and stepped through. Once in the room it had all the furnishings one would expect from a stereotypical witch. Cobwebs in the corners, check. Big black bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room, check. Ingredients hanging on racks and ceilings, check. Candles everywhere, check. Creepy atmosphere, check. Ugly witch….ok normal looking witch, check. Actually the witch, upon second look, appeared similar to the woman sent to get the constable when Lynley died. Holy crap she was that woman. Christ, she'd been that close to us the whole time.

"I take it we're expected," the Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets. His best intimidating impression in place. The witch eyed him, "Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time."

Martha lightly smacked my shoulder and whispered to me, "Watch this."

"Right then, it's my turn," she stepped forward. "I know how to do this," she pointed at the witch smugly, "I name thee, Carrionite!"

The witch emitted a fake gasp then she froze. A nasty smile graced her features. Martha looked on confused, "What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?"

The young witch sauntered closer to Martha, "The power of a name works only once. Observe."

She pointed at Martha haughtily, "I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones."

Her eyes roll up into her head as she drew in a sharp breath, falling back. Before she could drop completely the Doctor caught her. "Martha," I sprinted over to her as the Doctor gently lowered her to the floor. "What have you done," the Doctor yelled, face contorting with rage as he turned upon the witch.

She pouted retracting her digit, "Only sleeping, alas. Curious, the name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time."

Her sharp gaze then set itself upon me, "Now how about you. Lets see, Oh! A lonely toddler with no home, no mothers milk or rattler I name thee Echo Adler."

I stumbled back, smacking to the floor, clutching my chest as I struggled to take in air. The Doctor panicked and rushed to my side. His eyes quickly inspected my frame, trying to find some way to fix me. He twirled around to the witch with a roar, "Stop it!"

She appeared even more upset than the last outcome, "Strange. It seems her name is somehow lost, no matter."

I attempted to furrow my eyebrows, but failed as I was still gasping for air. What does she mean lost, my name isn't lost. If it was I wouldn't have a name. She was just making up excuses for failed murder attempt. The witch suddenly leaned down and jabbed her finger at the Doctor, "And as for you, Sir Doctor!"

She paused cocking her head to the left, "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair? Oh, but look. There's still one word with the power that aches."

The Doctor gave her a grim look of warning, "The naming won't work on me."

"But your heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant...Rose."

The Doctor bolted up furious and stalked forward, looming, "Oh, big mistake 'cos that name keeps me fighting! The Carrionites vanished! Where did you go?"

The witch got huffy and spun around, upset that her powers failed once more, her black cloak hitting the Doctor, "The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness."

I kept fighting for air watching as things unfurl. I briefly wondered what an eternal was, but it was becoming increasingly hard to think what with the lack of oxygen. The Doctor briefly glanced back at me to make sure I was still alive. "And how did you escape?"

"New words," she smiled gleefully, "New and glittering from a mind like no other."

"Shakespeare," the Doctor frowned with realization, peering into the cauldron. The witch leered and moved towards the window, "His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."

"How many of you?"

"Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back to the old ways of blood and magic."

"Hmm….busy schedule...but first you gotta get past me," the Doctor marched right up to her so that they stood face to face. She reached a hand out to caress his features, rubbing hers suggestively against his to illicit a reaction, "Oh, that should be a pleasure considering my enemy has such a handsome shape."

"Now, that's one form of magic that's definitely not gonna work on me."

"Oh, we'll see," She quickly yanked out a lock of hair from his head and retreated away. The Doctor grabbed the back of his skull confused and in pain, "What did you do?"

She smirked, "Souvenir."

"Well, give it back," the Doctor demanded. The window blew open by the hand of an unseen force as she opened her arms wide to fly out them backwards. She held his hair in the air levitating in place. The Doctor pushed up to the window sill, "Well, that's just cheating."

"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets."

She reached behind her back to pull out a straw voodoo doll and promptly wrapped his hair around it. Martha groaned beside me, beginning to stir as I started to settle down, if only a little. Air began to circulate through my lungs finally but not enough that I could easily move. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me coupled with a panic attack.

"Now, you might call that magic…," the Doctor explained, eyeing the doll, "I'd call that a DNA replication module."

She scoffed, "What use is your science now?"

To make her point she stabbed the doll with a dagger. Crying out, the Doctor clutched his chest as he crumpled to the floor. The witch cackled triumphantly and flew off into the night. I scrambled, poorly hefting myself over to the Doctor, when Martha finally full awoke just as I landed next to him, "Doctor!"

Upon hearing the name she turned to see his unmoving form lying face first on the wood floor. She rushed to his other side, "Oh my God! Doctor! Don't worry, I've got you."

She rolled him over onto his back and listened for a heart beat. She leaned up and smiled, smacking his arm "Hold on, mister. Two hearts?"

He opened an eye before grinning, "You're making a habit of this."

He proceeded to stand up but fell back as he clutch his chest, "Aahh!"

Martha moved to try and support him, keeping him upright. "I've only got one heart working," he looked down then up at Martha with disgust, "How do you people cope, I've got to get the other one started. Hit me! Hit me on the chest!"

She whacked him like he asked. "Aahh! Other side," he reprimanded, she obeyed with a good thwack, "On the back! On the back," he yelled next, almost as if he had an itch, "Left a bit!"

Smacking him one more time she let go before he steadied himself. "Ahh," he moaned with relief, "lovely. There we go! Ba-da-boom! Well, what are you standing there for? Come one! To the Globe!"

He bounced up and raced out the door, Martha hurriedly followed after. I tried lifting myself up but found I had difficulty and fell back like dead weight. _Don't worry about me, I'll just wait here till it's all over I guess. Maybe I'll take a nap or something._ Suddenly I heard loud feet climbing up the stairs and red converse sneaks magically appeared. "Oops, sorry."

I lift my head slightly to watch the Doctor run across the room. Quickly he leaned down and scooped me up, gathering me in his arms. My mouth flailed about with embarrassment, but word failed as oxygen still eluded me, "Wa-….sto-….I'm fi-...ju-lea-."

"Shush, just try and breath. I can't just leave you here, they might come back."

I went to protest but he just stare down, with a look that said so _there-is-no-room-for-debate,_ so I shut my trap. He smiled, winning, and jogged back down the stairs. The action caused an embarrassing physiological reaction, bouncing my chest up against his, and brushing his hand against my rear. Not that he noticed, thank god. It would have made thing that more awkward. Though Martha was going to hate me. But I didn't ask him to pick me up. It's mortifying! Why would I want him to. I love how one simple gesture could make me feel like such a useless idiot. Why was Martha fine and not me. This sucked.

As predicted Martha shot me another withering look once we got outside, but stopped when she realized something was wrong. Her medical training kicked in as she walked over. "What happened?"

"She was named just like you."

"Well obviously not, why is she like this. I just passed out," she frowned checking my pulse. I wished I knew myself, passing out would've been much preferable.

"Different reactions for different people I suppose."

Martha pulled her hand away, "Well, I think she's having a panic attack. You wouldn't happen to have a paper bag on you by chance?"

The Doctor appeared thoughtful, "I might have one. Check my right jacket pocket. "

Reaching in she pulled out a spanner, so she went back in. This time it was a Nobel peace prize for Einstein, but she still continued the search. After a couple of minutes and many strange items later she pulled out a brown bag. I think his pockets may have been bigger on the inside, it wouldn't surprise me. She looked in it and picked out a blue ball of string. We both sent him a weird look to which he just smiled at the item, "Oh, my favorite ball of string."

She raised an eyebrow, but put it back into his pocket. She handed me the bag after turning it inside out, so as to keep the lint from out of my lungs. "Just breath into its slowly till your breathing returns to normal."

I nodded my head in understanding and did as I was told. What ever helps. The Doctor shifted me a bit in his arms to get a better grip, "Alright, no more standing around! We've wasted enough time. Let's go."

I almost let out a yelp as he started running through the streets, I was surprised I didn't even slow him down. "We're going the wrong way," Martha shouted behind us.

"No, we're not!"

Suddenly he turned about and race back the other way, "We're going the wrong way!"

* * *

><p>Sprinting through the streets we grew ever closer to the theatre, and with a couple of corners the Globe was within clear view. The Doctor stopped. Before us people were running through the streets. Screams from the Globe could be heard as a red pinkish glow of energy poured out the top like fire, the wispy tendrils reaching for the sky. I observed on in horror as a strong gust of wind burst out, emanating from the building.<p>

That preacher we had first past at the beginning of our trip when we arrived looked on the spectacle excited, waving his hands around, "I told thee so! I told thee!"

The Doctor gazed down at me, "Do you think you can run own your own now?"

I gave a nod, I'd have to since he'd be needing his hands soon, gently he set me down. Lightning and thunder mixed into the chaos ahead as it picked up. He looked on ahead and raced forward, "Stage door!"

Martha and I galloped after him, though admittedly I was farther behind them. What, I was still having trouble catchin' my breath, I think I was doing pretty good. Thank you very much.

Bursting in backstage we spot Shakespeare sitting in a chair clutching his noggin, groggily peering around. He seemed confused. The Doctor however looked increasingly upset, "Stop the play! I think that was it. Yeah, I said, 'Stop the play'!"

Will groaned, "I hit my head."

"Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald," He jibed as the screaming increases from on stage, his head jolted towards the sound, "I think that's my cue!"

He ran off in the direction of the stage, right into the thick of it. Martha grabbed Wills hand and pulled him up, rushing off after him. I took a moment more to catch my breath before jogging after.

I scurried out onto the stage. The poor audience was desperately trying to get out the doors, stampeding over each other to do so, but they wouldn't budge. Wind wiped all around us as if a monsoon was beating down overhead. As I stepped onto the middle of the platform a glowing orb caught my attention from one of the upper levels of the theatre. Three witches cackled and lifted it toward the sky as the energy I saw earlier poured out from it, feeding the havoc. Little black things started darting out, flying fourth getting bigger as they spun around the cyclone of red energies. Crap. The Carrionites had arrived. We were to late!

Will began to back up from the scene, fear edging him out, but the Doctor grabbed hold of him keeping him steady, "Come on, Will! History needs you!"

He looked up at the chaos so lost. "But what can I do?"

"Reverse it!"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it!"

"But what words," he desperately shouted, eye's roving the pink tornado with panic, "I have none ready!"

The Doctor tapped the man's chest, "You're William Shakespeare!"

"But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision!"

Feeling a little better I tried to yell over the din, "Will! You can do it. Why do you think the witches used you. There's never been someone with such a mastery of words. If there's anyone who can stop this it's you!"

Will looked at me surprised by the compliment, not expecting it. The Doctor nodded, "She's right. Trust yourself. When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they? Like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm—words that last forever! That's what you do, Will! You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!"

The Doctor stepped back giving him room. Will turned his steady gaze upon the wraith like Carrionites flying around the Globe. He rubbed his chin with exasperation. Suddenly he tore his hand away and yelled skyward, "Close up this den of hateful, dire decay! Decomposition of your witches' plot! You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!"

His words reverberated through out the fourteen walls. I snapped my head towards the younger witch, holding the crystal globe, as she screamed. "No! Words of power!"

"Foul Carrionite specters, cease your show! Between the points…," he turned to the Doctor for the rest.

"7-6-1-3-9-0!"

"7-6-1-3-9-0 and banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…," he turned once more a loss for words, so too was the Doctor. Oh that's a hard one. What rhymes with cuss and doesn't sound bad. Guss, pus, bus, Russ….um. "Expelliarmus," Martha shouted on a whim. Everyone looked to her surprised. Oh, I never would have thought of that, I grinned shout along, "Expelliarmus!"

The Doctor shouted it as well, "Expelliarmus!"

Will and one of his actors bellowed upwards to the blackened creatures, "Expelliarmus!"

The Doctor laughed over the wind, "Good old JK!"

The Carrionites began to scream as they were sucked into the black eye of the storm above. A witch from the over hang screamed helplessly. "The deep darkness! They are consumed! Ahhh!"

The copies of the play were suddenly siphoned upward, following the shrieking Carrionites up in a tornado like fashion into the clouds. I sighed. There went the play. The Doctor seemed to have the same thought. "Love's Labours Won. There it goes."

The storm dissipated in a flash, disappearing into the darkness of night. There was a collective sigh of relief throughout the audience. Silence encompassed the room. No one knew what would happen next. Then, when the audience turned their wide gazes to the stage, a slow clap started up. First it was one, then it was four and soon the room turned into a roar of applause. We all looked at each other and smiled. The Doctor, unbeknownst to the others, ducked out and disappeared behind stage. The actors had no real clue of what so they went along with it, taking bows just going with the flow. No one any the wiser of the falsehood.

Martha scoffed amused leaning over to Shakespeare's ear, "They think it was all special effects."

Will smirked, raking his gaze across her beautiful skin, "Your effect is special indeed."

I laughed to myself. Nothing stopped him did it. Martha shook her head, "It's not your best line."

They chuckled at each other before pulling me over to bow with the rest of the actors. It was all laughs and smiles from then on. Giving one last bow I detached myself from the merry group and walked off back stage.

* * *

><p>We stayed at the globe for the rest of the night, all the way till the sun was high in the sky and the birds were singing. The Doctor I believed went checking the area for copies of the play, making sure there were no more lying around. Always better to be safe then sorry I supposed. Didn't need any repeats of last night's performance.<p>

I slept on one of the prop beds backstage as Martha and Will wandered off, they were considerate enough to flirt else where. Left to blissful silence. While deep in my dreams solar surfing in the Andromeda galaxy, which would be cool if it were a real thing, a voice started calling out to me, beckoning me fourth. I shook them off trying to ignore them, going on about my way, stretching a hand through the star dust, paying with the sparkly particles. Suddenly the surfboard bellow my feet disappeared, I tried to grab something, but there was nothing to grip. I fell, stars passing me by, planets zooming past, nebulas falling around me. I found myself plunging through time and space. All the while the voice getting louder and louder. The world around me shook. _Echo. Echo. Echo,_ it chanted.

I jolted in an instant of awareness up from the bed, smashing my skull against something hard. "Shit!"

"Ah! You have a very foul mouth do you know that."

I looked over to see the Doctor grabbing his forehead. "Yeah, just how I was raised. What exactly were you doing in front of my face?"

"Waking you up. You sleep like the Bolturains of Naserath. I've been trying to wake you up for five minutes."

I rubbed my sore forehead, "Well, I'm awake now. But I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why are you wearing that ruffled collar."

He smiled playing with the thing on his neck, "Oh this I got it for Shakespeare. For his neck."

I giggled, "Good, I was worried it was a new accessory piece."

He pouted and examining it, "Why? What's wrong with it?"

I chuckled, "It's just not you that's all."

He straighten his lapels, "Well, I think I look dashing."

"I'm sure you do."

He gave me a mock sour look before smiling, "Well, we should probably find Martha."

"Shouldn't be too hard just listen for flirting," I smirked as I lumbered off the bed and stretch my arms. He raised his eyebrow, oh not that again, "Do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

I scoffed, "No. If anything I'm relived. Not that I didn't like interacting with the Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong. But his…'affections' were making me uncomfortable."

He laughed lightly. "Oh, it's not funny." He continued to laughed. "It's not."

I tried to fight off a smile. "All right it's kinda funny."

Moving on, we walked over to the stage door when the Doctor spotted an animal skull on a table. So of course he had to pick it up. He smiled at item with some far off memory before it turned to ruin and he frowned, but still brought it with us. He pushed through the doors.

On stage it looked like Will and Martha were about to kiss, but the Doctor ever oblivious to the moment decided to shatter it. "Good props store back there! I'm not sure about this though," he looked at the skull, "Reminds me of a Sycorax."

They break apart, slightly flustered, and Will turns to the man, "Sycorax. Nice word. I'll have that off you as well."

"I should be on 10%," he commented, "How's your head?"

"Still aching."

The Doctor took off his ruffled collar and clipped it around Will's throat. "Neck brace. Wear that for a few days till it's better, although you might wanna keep it. It suits you."

Martha touched it, remembering all the pictures she'd seen of the accessory, and smiled. Now he looked like proper Shakespeare. "What about the play," she asked.

"Gone. I looked all over — every single copy of 'Love's Labours' Won went up in the sky," the Doctor gazed at the blue sky. No sliver of

Will sighed, "My lost masterpiece."

"You could write it up again," Martha said, trying to cheer him up. I patted his shoulder, "You probably shouldn't."

"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten."

Will gazeed up at the Doctor, "Oh, but I've got new ideas. Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons. In memory of my boy — my precious Hamnet."

I stared in shock, "Hamnet?"

He looked back to me, "That's him."

"Ham-NET," Martha emphasized. Will twirled his head towards her confused with everyones surprised voices, "What's wrong with that?"

"Anyway, time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot," the Doctor held the carrionites crystal ball from earlier up, where the three witches appear trapped shouting and banging on the glass, "can scream for all eternity and I've gotta take Martha and Echo back to Freedonia."

"You mean travel on through time and space," Will stated. The Doctor's mouth hung open, appearing as flabbergasted as the rest of us, "You what?"

"You're from another world like the Carrionites and Martha and Echo are from the future. It's not hard to work out."

"That's...incredible. You are incredible," He gushed. Will smirked at the compliment. "We're alike in many ways, Doctor. Echo it has been a pleasure. Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse," he grabs her hand delicately. The Doctor waggled his eyebrows at Martha as I cover my mouth with a hand to stifle a laugh. He just won't quit. "A sonnet for my Dark Lady. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate—" he didn't get to finish, one of his most famous sonnets, as he was interrupted by one of the actors running up to the stage. "Will! Will! You'll never believe it! She's here! She's turned up!"

The other actor beside him beamed excitedly, "We're the talk of the town. She heard about last night! She wants us to perform it again."

Martha perked up, "Who?"

"Her Majesty! She's here!"

Trumpets sound as the monarch herself walks in, her royal guard close behind her. Hooray I did get a twofer after all! It appeared the Doctor was just as excited as I, "Queen Elizabeth the 1st!"

Her eyes swiveled over the to Doctor and scrunched with a look of agitation, "Doctor!"

He appeared startled by her tone of voice, that and she knew him, "What?"

"My sworn enemy!"

Now he just looked baffled, "What?"

"Off with his head!"

Martha shot up from the edge of the stage, "Never mind what, just run! See you, Will! And thanks!"

"Oh shit," I scrambled after them. A loud clinking sound followed after us. Peeking back the guards were giving chase. Will just sat where he as and laughing at the sight. Oh, it's all fun and games when you're not the one being chased by knights. We burst out the back and onto the streets. If I take an arrow to the knee I'm going to kill someone. That joke was only funny the first time.

Thankfully the TARDIS wasn't parked far away. Scurrying up to the Doctor I yelled at him, "What hell did you do to the Queen?"

Martha eyeballed him as well, "She looked really upset!"

He dashed up to the TARDIS, shoving in the key as fast as he could, and unlocked her, "How should I know? Haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you! Still, can't wait to find out."

Martha and I race inside as he took one glance back out the blue doors, "That's something to look forward to. Oh!"

He quickly ducked inside as the archers fired, arrows heading straight for him. He hastily locked the door. A thud and a spring could be heard throughout the room as he sprinted up to the controls and sends us flying once more through time and space.

I instantly tumbled over to my perch and grabbed ahold, ready for the ride. Martha followed suit. We all looked at each other from across the console in silence, the only noise was of the rotor in the middling whooshing up and down. Suddenly the room broke out into fit of laughter as we're spun through time. No one wanting the moment to end. Unfortunately all things have to end some time other, else we'd never have any beginnings. And there would truly be no concept of time.

* * *

><p>Please rate and review ^_^<p>

NEXT EPISODE: Gridlock


	5. Gridlock

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try and make the doctor who characters act as they were portrayed in the show._  
><em>

Sorry I haven't updated in a very long time my laptop broke and i just got it fixed. I may have rushed this chapter a bit so sorry for any sp mistakes. I should be re-reading it and fixing any mistakes but i have to work on my finals. So I'm just letting you know i will be finishing this story but i'll be MIA for at least three weeks as i finish them. I was asked for a brief description of what Echo looks like, there is a small one at the beginning of Smith and Jones but I'll give another one (hope it helps ^_^) as well as draw a picture and put it on my blog here yellow-fishy .blogspot by the next chapter. Also check out my other story ^_^

**Height:** 5'6" **Hair color: **Red **Hair style: **Jaw length & curly **Eyes: **Large & blue **Facial features: **A fewlight freckles across cheeks & nose. Dimples. Pink pouty pixie mouth. Natural blush. **Body marks: **Mole on her right big toe. Celtic band of protection tattooed on left pinkie. Small shark bite on her left hip (7½ in. shark jaw). **Bust size:** C **Outfit: **Usually always wears a red Carmen Sandiego jacket and her tan messenger bag. Pant's and t-shirts change on occasion. Yellow converse.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS was quiet. Too quiet. Quiet enough that I could hear the ghosts of my Christmas past scampering down the corridors. Okay, maybe not the ghosts of my Christmas past, but it was pretty darn quiet in there. The reason being our one trip was over. Meaning it was time to go. Time to get back to real life. Time to be...normal. Which was allot harder since I had experienced the wonders of time travel. My life before just seemed so <em>blah<em>!

I should've probably gotten off the console floor, where I had landed during a particular nasty bump, but I rather liked the view of the TARDIS ceiling. That, and I wanted to commit the whole room to memory, right down to ever little detail. After all, my new mission in life was building a time machine.

Peeking over to Martha I watched her dejected form sit haplessly on the jump seat. I guessed she didn't want to leave either. I'd have to get her cell number before we parted ways. That way we could set up a support system. After all, I didn't think there were that many time travelers on earth during the twenty-first century. But I could be wrong.

The Doctor on the other hand appeared thoughtful as he flipped levers and twisted knobs. Looked like this was it for us. He was plugging in the details for our return trip home. It had been fun while it lasted I supposed.

He glanced at Martha and I before scratching the back of his neck, "Just one trip. 'S'what I said. One trip, in the TARDIS, and then home. Although – I suppose we could – stretch the definition. Try one trip to the past, one trip to the future. How do you fancy that?"

Martha perked up thrilled with the idea, "No complaints from me!"

I jumped off the grated floor, memorizing details could wait till later, let future me worry about that, "Hurray another mis-adventure!"

"How about a different planet," he suggested. Martha edged closer, "Can we go to yours?"

He paused as his excitement ebbed. Crap. Another hot button. I swear it's a minefield in here and of course I'm stuck with the one person who would keep plowing through clueless to what she was stepping on.

"Ahh, there's plenty of other places!"

He waltzed around me to flip and push more switches. Clearly avoiding Martha's query. Of course, not taking the hint she kept on ahead with her question. If I myself wasn't curious I might've somehow subtly stopped her. Of course, then again I'm not a very subtle person. She glided next to him, pursing his ever retreating form. "Come on, though! I mean, Planet of the Time Lords, that's got to be worth a look! What's it like?"

Oh! Now I knew what his species was. Finally! Although, Time Lord kind of seemed pompous. But then again he didn't name his species. I wondered what my species was called?

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, inspecting the console, "Well, it's beautiful, yeah."

Martha's eyes gleamed with excitement as she tried to picture it. "Is it like, you know, outer space cities, all spires and stuff?"

"Suppose it is." A picture started to be painted as Martha went on with what she imagined it to be. I watched her like a kid being told a story as she danced around the controls. "Great big temples and cathedrals!"

"Yeah."

I perked up at his response. He was giving one worded answers. From what had I picked up from that last couple of days he only did that when avoiding a topic. I have a friend Roger who did something as well, it's probably the only reason I picked up on it in the first place. My trip may have ended before it even started, again. Martha however still remained oblivious, "Lots of planets in the sky?"

He stopped lost in some long off memory. His face was on the brink of sorrow before he looked up with a bittersweet nostalgia, "The sky's a burnt orange, with the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever – slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow."

I leaned forward totally enthralled waiting for him to go on, to soak up more details. If that's what his planet was like I definitely want to go there next then. It sounded magical. "That sounds amazing."

Martha agreed, "Yeah can we go there?"

For a moment is face fell, crumpling into an indifferent shield. A thick silence overtook the room before he broke into a smile. "Naah! Where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home! Instead…," he started, dancing around the console changing settings as he went. The TARDIS gave a large rumbling shake. "This is much better. Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth! Second hope of mankind! Fifty thousand light years from your old world, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically it's the fifteenth New York from the original, so it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. One of the most dazzling cities ever built."

He ushered us out the doors, grabbing his coat from a pillar along the way. Finally I got my alien planet! My happiness, however, was short lived the minute I stepped outside. Rain fell from above like a pennies, big and heavy. I groaned as it soaked right through my coat. Looking through the water droplets, cascading down my face, I could see we had parked in a narrow alleyway. Papers and trash littered the cracked cement. Martha scowled briskly zipping up her jacket, "Oh, that's nice! Time Lord version of dazzling."

I fished around in my bag, determined not to remain wet, and pulled out a yellow umbrella. Which I popped open, swiftly putting it into use. _Ahh, nice and dry….well sort of anyways._ The Doctor closed the door behind him locking it as he pulled out an arrow stuck to the side, "Nah, bit of rain never hurt anyone. Come on, let's get under cover!"

I followed closely behind but with no hurry, "you obviously have never been to Massachusetts during the rainy season! Lots of flooding."

Martha glanced behind her to comment when she spotted umbrella, "Where'd you get that?"

I smirked, "My bag."

"Well, I'm coming under," she insisted, not bothering to wait for an answer and smooshed herself in. I shrugged as best I could, "Ok. It'll be a bit squished."

"As long as I'm dry."

The Doctor turned to make sure we were still behind him, afraid we'd wander off, and spotted us huddled underneath the item, "Oh that's just cheating."

I stuck my tongue out and laughed, "What's wrong don't have an umbrella in those giant pockets of yours."

He just wagged a finger in my direction, "Oh-just hurry up."

Twirling on foot, his coat billowing in the wind, he sprints down the alley coming out into a junk ridden street ahead. Martha and I smiled at each other and trailed after him, trying to keep dry under the small umbrella.

The street, however, made the alleyway appear nice by comparison. It looked a lot like the slums, everything was old and rundown. Windows were boarded up with worn splintering wood. Garbage littered the street, even though there were large dumpsters near by. People were so lazy. Speaking of which, I almost trip over an old suit case lying haphazardly on the ground, as if whoever left it was in such a rush to leave they left whatever fell behind them. Nice. "Doctor are you sure we're not in regular New York?"

I spotted a rat scuttling by one of the bricked walls and cringed. Oh beautiful. Rabies. He examined the area warily. "Of course I'm sure."

I rolled my eyes at his back. If he said so I supposed. Martha shivered trying to keep warm, "Well, it looks like the same old Earth to me. On a Wednesday afternoon."

So I wasn't the only one with doubts. The Doctor frowned at our mistrust, searching for a way to prove he was right, "Hold on, hold on. Let's have a look."

He walked over, between two large green closed booths, to a blank screen attached to the wall. I shut the umbrella as we entered the overhang so the Doctor didn't get wet under the cover. I shook it off as he soniced the screen and, with a fizzle, a static image of a woman appeared. The Doctor hit the device and it flickered into view. "– and the driving should be clear and easy, with fifteen extra lanes open for the New New Jersey expressway."

The image changed to showcase bluffs over looking a wide river. Sleek futuristic flied cars past in the air. New New York loomed on the horizon, traffic flowing out and in like a hive. It even had a bridge leading to the city, one of the ones most associated with the city, though I didn't see the point since they had flying cars. Nostalgia possible.

The Doctor tapped the screen, grinning at the slopes of grass waving in the wind, "Oh, that's more like it! That's the New we had last time. This must be the lower levels. Down in the base of the tower, some sort of under-city."

Martha sounded irritated, but smiled in spite of herself, she'd go anywhere with him. "You've brought me to the slums?"

"Much more interesting! It's all cocktails and glitter up there. This is the real city."

She gazed at him endearingly, "You'd enjoy anything."

The Doctor grinned, adjusting the lapels of his coat, "That's me. Oh, the rain's stopping! Better and better!"

"Yeah, but why was it raining anyway if we're in the under city, I assume we're underground after all," I remarked while putting away the umbrella. He answered off handedly looking towards the hazy sky, "It's the water recycling system. Keeps things fresh."

I was about to ask how it kept things fresh, seeing as the street emitted a sort of wet dog smell, when a thought occurred to Martha. "When you say 'last time', was that you and Rose?"

"Um – yeah. Yeah, it was, yeah," the Doctor replied nonchalantly, though the question brought pain to his features. Oh, crap now he had innocently stepped on a land mine! Man down. Man down. Martha rounded on him, lips tightening, "You're taking me to the same planets that you took her?"

I eyed the Doctor trying to convey with thought not to answer that. _Don't do it man! If you had any self preservation you won't answer it, women can hold grudges for a long time._ _You wouldn't even know she had one till it was to late. I would know. I am one after all._ Unfortunately I wasn't a telepath, or very good at conveying eye messages, as the Doctor foolishly answered, "What's wrong with that?"

That ticked her off. In an instant she pushed past him in a huff, roughly bumping his shoulder. "Nothing. Just – ever heard the word rebound?"

I groaned and shook my head, sending wet tendrils slapping across my face. Those two were not in a romantic relationship, so it wasn't the rebound Martha somehow got into her head it was. Why did she insist on making stuff into things they were not.

Suddenly, the top of one the green boxes flipped open revealing a man in a stall. I guessed they weren't green boxes but vendor carts. The man seemed surprised to see anyone outside, "Oh! You should have said. How long you been there? Happy! You want Happy!"

Suddenly the other two stalls open upon hearing the mans slogan when they realized that there were people in the street. An african woman behind us shouted from her booth, "Customers! Customers! We've got customers!"

The vendor next to her shouted as well to someone inside her store, "We're in business! Mother, open up the Mellow, and the Read!"

They all start shouting there slogans trying to reel the lot of us in. Each of us stared at the people as they belted out the strangest sales pitches we'd ever heard. "Happy, Happy, lovely happy, Happy!"

"Anger! Buy some Anger!"

"Get some Mellow, makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long!"

"Younger, them. They'll rip you off. Do you want some happy," the man in front of us asked, leaning down against the counter. The Doctor frowned moving us along, "No, thanks."

Martha crossed her arms over her chest, "Are they selling drugs?"

"I think they're selling moods."

She shrugged, "Same thing, isn't it?"

A pale young woman dressed in dark clothes wrapped in a shawl approached one of the stalls. She appeared very sullen, her eyes slightly red as if she had been crying earlier. The vendors homed in sensing a sale. "Over here, sweetheart! That's it, come on, I'll get you first!"

"Oy! Oy, you! Over here! Over here! Buy some Happy!"

She wanders over to the third stall, wringing her hands nervously together, the female vendor leaned over, "Come over here, yeah. And what can I get you, my love?"

She looked up somberly, "I want to buy Forget."

"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength? How much you want forgetting?"

She appeared as if she could use a hug, not memory forgetting drugs. She looked own at the ground, trying to rain in the tears trying to surface. "It's my mother and father. They went on the motor-way." The Doctor slowly approached, listening to the conversation. "Oh, that's so sweet," the vendor reached into the stall pulling out an item before holding out a small square piece of plastic with a moon insignia, "Try this. Forget Forty-three. That's twopence."

The pale woman handed over the payment across the counter and grabbed the forget. She played with it between her finger. Before she could do anything with it though, the Doctor stopped her. "Sorry, but – hold on a minute. What happened to your parents?"

She turned around, "They drove off."

His brows furrowed in confusion, "They might drive back."

"Everyone goes to the motor-way in the end," the woman's face fell, "I've lost them."

"But they can't have gone far. You could find them."

The pale woman just stared up at his puzzled look. She sighed when she realized he didn't understand her pain, quickly she placed the plastic to her exposed throat. "No, no – no, don't," the Doctor reached for her but it was to late. Instantly her whole demeanor changed, her inward posture melted away as did the haunted look in her eyes. She appeared serene yet unaware of her surroundings. Like nothing mattered any more. The woman cocks her head to the side gazing back up to the Doctor, "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Your parents. Your mother and father. They're on the motor-way."

The lady smiled as if in a daydream, "Are they? That's nice."

Martha looked on with disbelief, the Doctor on the other hand didn't appear as surprised but disturbed all the same. WTF! Is that what the human race amounts to in the future. I mean, I could understand wanting to forget something because it was painful, but I think would be much more painful walking through life oblivious. Missing a chunk of your past. Always wondering. Never knowing. I squeezed my bag strap. Thats a special kind of hell.

The woman smiled at him before walking away, "I'm sorry. I won't keep you."

We all watched her disappear into the white vapors rising fourth from the grates. I shivered with a frown. I knew it was irrational, but all things considering, my experience with fog like things hadn't been particularly great. I almost grabbed Martha when she stepped into some. But like I had said, it was an irrational fear.

She scoffed, "So that's the human race five billion years in the future. Off their heads on chemicals."

I agreed with the sentiment, but was never able to tell her. Two people dressed in black ran out of the smoke and before anyone could react, they grabbed Martha from behind. What was worse, they had guns. "Martha," I reached for her instinctively as a gun was suddenly shoved into my face. "I-I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry. We just need three, that's all," the lady pointing the gun at me apologized, practically crying. The Doctor rushed forward, his face contorting with anger, but he to was stopped when a gun was shoved at him, "No, let her go! I'm warning you, let her go! Whatever you want, I can help. Both of us, we can help. But first you've got to let her go!"

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Sorry," the woman kept repeating, apologizing. The couple kept backing up, apologizing, as they drag Martha along with them. I watched frantically, feeling powerless to help. "Please if you're truly sorry then just let her go. That's all just let her go," I begged as they continued to back up, right through a large green metal door, slamming it shut. "NO!"

Rushing forward I banged against the door trying to wrestle it open. The Doctor bared his teeth in frustration and gave a hard kick to the green chipped metal. I barely registered that the Doctor was beside me as I tried to leverage the door open with a pipe I'd picked up form the ground. Martha's screaming began to fade off. Damn it, they were getting away! I spun around in panic, "Doctor-"

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked the door. Yanking it open he raced past me, down the long dark barren concrete corridor. I barely kept up, but I was determined not to fall behind and get lost. Then he'd have two problems instead of just the one. If I thought regular New York could be scary then I don't think I'd much appreciate a future one I knew nothing about.

Dashing down another littered hallway, plastic sheets wrapped around beams blew with the wind, as we near another green door. Oddly enough it was just as abandoned as the others. Bursting thru, into open air once more, onto a fire escape I feared we were to late as a flying car, made up of rusted sheets of metal, started taking off. The whoosh of hot air slapped against us as it lifted off the ground. "Martha," the Doctor called out frantically helpless to only watch the car fly away. With a burst of noise it shot off down the alleyway and out of sight.

"Doctor what are we going to do," I asked, staring at where the car had once been. He didn't respond so I glanced over to him. His eyes were frozen to the same spot mine had been. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, what do we do?"

He didn't remove his eyes off that spot as he patted my hand. Next thing I knew he charged back into the abandoned building as my arm fell limply back to my side. I scoffed at his retreating form. "Don't worry Echo I have a plan. Here's what will do, ba-da-bing, ba-da-bang, ba-da-boom and we'll have Martha in a jiffy. Is that to much to ask. Psh. Nope I'll just run off and leave you here. And why am I just standing around complaining to myself when I should be catching up. Shit! Doctor wait up!"

Jumping on foot I chased after him, just narrowly keeping him within sight. Were we running back to the vendors? Must be since we followed the same path and I came out of the building just as the Doctor started pounding against one of the doors to the vendors booth. I was surprised they were all closed, we'd been gone all of fifteen minutes. What'd they actually close that early. Wished my jobs were that long.

The woman who had sold the forget earlier opened up upon his demand and smiled seeing he had a customer. She leaned over the counter top just as I caught up. "Thought you'd come back! Do you want some happy, Happy?"

The Doctor glowered at the woman, mad as hell, before shouting, "Those people – who were they? Where did they take her?"

I guessed one of the other vendors must have heard the commotion, so he opened his window, "They've taken her to the motor-way."

The woman nodded her head in agreement, not at all perturbed by the earlier occurrence, "Looked like carjackers to me."

The other female vendor must have opened as well, when I wasn't looking, as she gazed down at us empathetically, the only one out of the whole lot, "I'd give up now, darling. You won't see her again."

The male vendor piped in, speaking wistfully as he gazed around the empty street, "Used to be thriving in this place. You couldn't move. But they all go to the motor-way in the end."

The Doctor, I could tell, was getting more and more upset. Valuable time was passing as they reminisced. "He kept on saying three, we need three. What did he mean, three?"

"It's the car-sharing policy, to save fuel. You get special access if you're carrying three adults," the first vendor rolled her eyes as it was probably common knowledge. In most situations I wouldn't have cared if they rolled their eyes but the whole situation was getting stressful, so it was getting rather irksome the nonchalant way those people were acting about someone being kidnapped in front of them. Clearly they weren't gonna be much help. I pinched the bridge of my nose to calm down, "Excuse me, but could you just tell us how to get to the motor-way."

She jerked her head back to where we had come running from, "Straight down the alley, keep going all the way to the end. You can't miss it."

The Doctor marched down the street the second the woman finished uttering the directions. I quickly trailed behind him. We weren't even a few feet away before the lady opens her big mouth again. I hate salesmen...or saleswomen in this case, they never know when to quit. "Tell you what – how 'bout some happy, Happy? Then you'll be smiling, my love!"

That happened to be the wrong thing to say. He turned around with a snarl, "Word of advice, all of you. Cash up. Close down, and pack your bags!"

The female vendor appeared confused, "Why's that, then?"

I was glad not to be her as the full weight of his anger bored into those selling moods, "Because as soon as I've found her, alive and well – and I will find her, alive and well – then I'm coming back. And this street is closing. Tonight!"

His voice reverberated down the street, booming with an untempered rage. I didn't bother to give the vendors a second glance to check there reactions as I jogged after him, disappearing into the white vapors.

I reached out to comfort him, but thought better of it, I was probably the least qualified person to do so. I'd just make him more agitated or something. It was probably best to just let him cool down. So I retracted my hand and followed him in silence. It would have been better if I was taken, Martha would know the right thing to say at a moment like this. She was going to be a Doctor herself after all, so I would hope so.

* * *

><p>Eventually we reached the motor-way access, having not uttered a single word to the other mind you the whole way so the atmosphere had taken an awkward turn, in some sketchy neglected corridor of the under city. Still we had yet to pass a single soul on the way there. I was beginning to wonder if there were any people in New New York.<p>

We approached a sealed door, the only way to continue on as there were no diverts. Stepping forth with long hard strides the Doctor gripped the metal lever, wrenching it open with a loud clang that bounced off the walls as it unlocked. Sliding the heavy thing over we stepped out onto a platform. I almost laughed at what I saw. Cars! All around us were flying cars participating in what looked to be a nightmare of a traffic jam, the worst in all history by the look of it. The door behind us slammed shut under it's own weight.

Alright, so why were we out there? I mean, I wouldn't care so much if we weren't choking to death on the exhaust fumes spouting fourth from all the combined vehicles. I was about to tell the Doctor that we should head back and rethink our course of action. I didn't think I could stand much more of the toxic fumes. Suddenly, the car hovering in front of us slid opened it's door. A man in aviator clothes, face wrapped in a scarf, hailed us over, "Hey! You daft little street struts! What are you doing, standing there? Either get out or get in! Come on!"

The Doctor rushed forward and, like the little sheeple that I was, I followed his lead and jumped into the craft. The man promptly slammed the door shut as the woman in the front seat came over with oxygen masks for the both of us. "Here you go."

I grabbed it thankfully trying to stop the coughing and breathe in the air. Oh, nice beautiful fresh clean air how I have missed you so. Never leave me again. "Did you ever see the like?"

I peered over to the man who let us in, to thank him, and my eyes almost popped out of my skull when he took off his scarf revealing him to be a-a...well a cat person. I felt like my eyebrows were gonna jump off my forehead they were so high. There are cat people in the future! Huh? I never would've guessed. The orangey cat man waved his hands around in the air, "Just standing there, breathing it in!"

The man and the woman made there way back to the front seats. The black haired female smiled from her passenger seat listening to the cat male boisterously weave a tale, "There's this story says back in the old days, on Junction Forty-Seven, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet!"

As the others were occupied I turned to the Doctor motioning with my head towards the cat man, silently voicing my surprise. He just smiled wiggling his eyebrows at me. I mouthed _'cat people'_ at him to which he just rolled his eyes and mouthed back, _'now don't be rude, you look just as weird to him as he does to you'_.

He shifted and leaned against the back of the drivers seat, turning his attention back to the two in front. "Oh, you're making it up," the woman crossed her arms. The man laughed, "A fifty-foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose!"

"Stop it. That's disgusting."

"What? Did you never pick your nose?"

Suddenly the woman sat up straight all joking aside. She smacked the mans arm and pointed out the grim covered window, "Bran, we're moving!"

"Right. I'm there. I'm on it," he tensed up and pulled the lever between the seats forward, shifting gears. We surged forward a couple of feet. After a second or two Bran pulled the lever back down. I guessed we were in park now. "Twenty yards! We're having a good day."

They smiled at each other as if that were an accomplishment. Bran turned back to us from his seat, "And who might you be, sir? Ma'am? Very well-dressed for hitchhikers."

We pulled off the masks. "Thanks. Sorry, I'm the Doctor."

Bran looks excited, grinning from ear to ear, "Medical man! Ha-ha! My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."

Valerie smiled up at us, "Nice to meet you."

The Doctor gestured over to me, "Well, this is my friend Echo, say hello."

I smiled and waved at the other two, "Hello."

Bran returned the gesture, "Well hello there. If you'd like to meet them the rest of the family is behind you."

Turning around and the Doctor pushed aside a curtain in the back to reveal a basket full of mewling kittens. I '_awwed_'almost immediately, totally pushing aside the fact that some of them are saying momma. They were to adorable to freak me out at that moment.

"Aww, that's nice. Hello," the Doctor leaned down to gently pick one up cuddling it to his chest. If Martha had been there she'd be drooling over how cute the picture of the Doctor petting a kitten was. Noticing that no one was paying any heed to me I quietly snapped a pic with my phone. I'd send it to Martha when we got her back as a _'sorry you got kidnapped'_ present. Well, I guessed I could be thoughtful.

I reached out and scratched the kittens ear. "-Children of the motor-way."

Wait what? Did Bran say they're children of the motor-way. Damn, I should really learn to multitask and listen to conversations as I worked through things in my head.

The Doctor appeared confused, looking at the children incredulously. "What, they were born in here?"

"We couldn't stop. We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance," Valerie pats her husbands hand lovingly. The Doctor looks between the two, "What? You've been driving for two months?"

Bran scoffed at that, "Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for twelve years now."

The two gazed at each other fondly, lost in nostalgia. My mouth almost hit the floor at that revelation, "What!"

The Doctor seemed not to get the implication or thought he'd miss heard, "I'm sorry?"

"Yeah! Started out as newlyweds! Feels like yesterday," Bran sighed wistfully. Valerie scoffed turning back to the road, "Feels like twelve years to me."

"Ahh, sweetheart, but you're still lovely," he tickled her side and she giggled. They were the first inter-species couple I'd seen and it didn't bother me at all. They were a really sweet couple. Aww, this car is just full of '_awws_' today.

The Doctor's eyebrows shot to his forehead, very confused, "Twelve years? How far did you come? Where did you start?"

"Battery Park. It's five miles back."

Now that had caught my attention. Wait, what! Had he really said five miles. Alright now I was confused, "Five miles?"

Bran stared at me like maybe I was hard of hearing, "Yep that's what I said."

The Doctor handed over the kitten to me, "You travelled five miles in twelve years?"

"I think they're a bit slow."

The wife looked between the two of us, "Where are you from?"

"Well I'm from-", the Doctor interrupted me. "Never mind that, we've got to get out. Our friend's in one of these cars. She was taken hostage. We should get back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor slid the door we'd come from open only to be met with a large cloud of smoke, no land in sight. His eyes started to water as he looked for a way off before shutting again. "You're too late for that," Bran shook his head, "We've passed the lay-by."

Oh _craptastic_. "When's the next one," I asked. He turned to me and did a mental estimate, "Oh … six months?"

"S-six months!" The Doctor shrieked running a hand through his hair.

All air left my lungs at the omission. I couldn't stay that long in the tiny little room, I was already getting claustrophobic just thinking about it. Plus, we couldn't just leave Martha for that long. That just wasn't acceptable. The Doctor clearly thought along the same lines and walked over to a screen with a New New York police emblem rotating on it. He immediately started sonicing it. Trying to find a solution.

The kitten in my arms started wriggling since I had stopped patting him in my panic. I gave him a quick scratch behind the ears to settle him, his purring echoed throughout the cabin. I attempted to peer over the Doctor's shoulder to see what exactly he was doing, but he left no wiggle room. I sighed giving up, popping a squat on the bed in the back that held the kittens in the basket. It would have been a perfect time for conversing but what did I talk about, I had nothing helpful to add. I wasn't a genius. Speaking of which, my genius was busy abusing the screen in the back. "I need to talk to the police."

Again, I tried to peer at the screen but the Doctor happened to make a better wall than a window. An electronic voice responded to his demands, "Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."

"But you're the police!"

"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."

Frustrated he scrambled past me back to the front of the car, placing himself between Valerie and Bran. "Is there anyone else? I once met the Duke of Manhattan; is there any way of getting through to him?"

A couple of the kittens began attempting to climb into my lap, I smiled helping them up. I thought the best way for me to help in the situation we found ourselves in was to stay quite and out of the way. Bran rolled his eyes, "Oh, now, ain't you lordly?"

I snorted at the comment. He was almost right. The Doctor tightened his grip on the back of their chairs. "I've got to find my friend."

Right. Maybe I shouldn't be laughing at unintentional jokes, it seemed uncouth. Valerie shook her head, "You can't make outside calls. The motor-way's completely enclosed."

Alright, since people have clearly forgotten I'm there, not their fault I was just awesome like that, I'd talk to those who hadn't forgotten. "Oh course we're enclosed, we're in the _under_ city after all," I made sure I was loud enough that the kids could hear but not the adults in front. "What about the other cars," the Doctor asked, peering out the windows.

"Yes, what about the other cars," I whispered to the white kitten playing with my fingers. Two others started climbing up to my shoulders like they were making an ascent to a mountain peak. Bran turned to the console on the dashboard, using a finger to scroll through his contacts on the touch screen, "Oh, we've got contact with them, yeah. Well, some of them, anyway. They've got to be on your friends list. Now, let's see – who's nearby? Ahh! The Cassini sisters!"

"They sound nice," I whispered conspiratorially to my fuzzy audience, "I Bet they're nice. Ow! Watch it that's my ear you're clawing at there buddy."

"Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here."

Ha! I liked this guy. I smiled down at the black kitten trying to catch my left hand, "Your dad's funny. I'm quite jealous."

"Get off the line, Brannigan," an elderly voice drawled on the line, "You're a pest and a menace."

Ah even better they're funny too. I guess you'd have to be if you were to stay sane on the motor-way. Shifting a bit I tried to catch sight of the screen, maybe it's a video call and I could have a face to the voice. To bad the Doctor's rear view was in the way. If I was being honest with my self, it wasn't a bad view. Not that I'd ever tell the man, after all he was quite clear on the relationship subject. It was friends only policy and I was quite fine with that. Could always use more friends. Now, if only Martha were to get the memo. Martha...oh I hope she was alright. "Oh, come on now, sisters," our driver reprimanded in jest, "Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"

"You know full well we're not sisters," the woman argued, "We're married."

I quietly chuckled to myself. "Good for them. Ouch! Hey what are you trying to do you silly little thing," I asked the orange tabby that had managed to make it atop of my head where they were now latched onto. "Oh you're lucky you're cute."

"Oooh, stop that modern talk! I'm an old-fashioned cat," Bran chortled, "Now, I've got hitchhikers here, one calls himself the Doctor, the other calls herself Echo."

Bran handed a transceiver over to the Doctor, "Hello. Sorry. We're looking for someone called Martha Jones. She's been car-jacked. She's inside one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one."

The other Cassini replied as something was heard being shuffled around, "Wait a minute."

I bopped the white and grey kitten lightly on the nose, "Looks like we may be in luck."

"Could I ask, what entrance did they use?"

"Where were we," the Doctor inquired. Bran glanced out the side window, "Pharmacy Town."

He pulled the receiver back to his mouth, "Pharmacy Town, about twenty minutes ago."

"Let's have a look."

The first Cassini muttered under her breath, "Just my luck, to marry a car-spotter."

If her wife heard she didn't reply. Not that the statement was said with any intended malice, so I didn't believe she would. I resisted the urge to let out another '_aww_' at the cute elderly couple. "In the last half hour," the other woman stated, "fifty-three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction."

The Doctor frowned, "Anything more specific?"

"There's no need to be rude she's trying to help," I wiggled my fingers up at the black kitten perched on one of my shoulders, he batted at them playfully. "All in good time," the woman tisked, "Was she car-jacked by two people?"

"Yes, she was, yeah."

"There we are," she announced slapping something, "Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane. That means they had three on board. And car number is four six five diamond six."

"That's it," the Doctor exclaimed excitedly at the lead, "So how do we find them?"

"Ah. Now, there I'm afraid I can't help."

Well, at least it was a start. Before we had nothing. "Call them on this thing," he demanded, "We've got their number. Diamond six."

Bran shook his head, "Not if they're designated fast lane. It's a different class."

"Well that's a problem. Ow my finger is not for eating," I glowered at the white kitten trying to chow down on the small appendage.

"You could try the police," one of the sisters offered up as an idea. The Doctor sighed in frustration, "They put me on hold."

"You'll have to keep trying. There's no one else."

"Thank you."

The car fell into silence as the conversation ended. I could tell the Doctor was trying to think of something, figure some way of rescue, but it was glaringly obvious what needed to be done. This was why a really smart person should travel with a dumb person at all times, especially if said smart person got entangled in tricky situations. Geniuses were always thinking about the complicated solutions and so overlooked the easy ones. "Why don't we just join the fast lane?"

The Doctor homed in on Bran, liking the idea. "Echoes right. We've got to go to the fast lane. Take us down."

That funny cat man's whole demeanor shifted, turning ridged and frozen. Like there was something terribly wrong with idea. Strange, I'd think they'd be happy to move down the highway faster. "Not a million years."

"You've got four passengers!"

"I'm still not going," Bran held firm, drawing his line in the sand.

Next thing I knew the Doctor's shoved right into Brans face, getting up close and personal. He talked in a harsh tone, "She's alone, and she's lost. She doesn't belong on this planet, and it's all my fault. I'm asking you, Brannigan – take me down."

Valerie, who'd been quiet till then, became upset and growled her firm resolve, "That's a no and that's final. I'm not risking the children down there."

A chill ran down my spine. What was so bad that they would rejoice at the opportunity to move faster. I wasn't liking the direction the subject was heading towards. I got the feeling that carjacking was the least of Martha's concerns at that moment.

"Why not? What's the risk," the Doctor objected, "What happens down there?"

The jovial tone from earlier had finally disappeared, leaving the room cold and air wired. I guessed that it was either a taboo subject or they didn't wished to scare the kids. "We're not discussing it," Valerie shouted, "The conversation is closed!"

"So we keep on driving."

"Yes, we do," Bran nodded frigidly. "For how long," the Doctor yelled. I bounced slightly at the noise. I never did appreciate yelling and neither did Bran as he shouted back, "'Till the journey's end."

I reached for Doctor's coat, trying to garner his attention. Getting upset with them wasn't going to help in our current situation since we didn't have all the facts. "Doc-"

He wrenched the receiver from the dashboard and spoke into the device with restrained anger, "Mrs. Cassini, this is the Doctor. Tell me, how long have you been driving on the motor-way?"

"Oh, we were amongst the first," she twittered happily, "It's been twenty-three years now."

"And in all that time, have you ever seen a police car?"

Valerie and Bran seemed uneasy by the query. I was guessing what he said had already passed through each of their minds at one point, but they're to afraid of what the answer might have brought. How it might crush their hope so they never spoke of it.

The Cassini sister hesitated before replying, "I'm not sure."

"Look at your notes. Any police?"

"Not as such."

"Or an ambulance? Rescue service? Anything official? Ever?"

The woman voice trembled with an underlying fear, "I can't keep a note of everything."

So it wasn't just in this car, I bet everyone on the motor-way had this thought lingering in the back of their mind. Kept hidden in the backs of there minds, what if there's no one out there?

"What if there's no one out there?"

Woah! That was weird. I was just thinking that. But then again I guess everyone was.

Bran angrily took the receiver away from the Doctor, "Stop it. The Cassini's were doing you a favor."

"Someone's got to ask. 'Cause you might not talk about it, but it's there. In your eyes," the Doctor paused with the weight of his next words, "What if the traffic jam never stops?"

"There's a whole city above us," Bran huffed, "The mighty city-state of New New York. They wouldn't just leave us."

"In that case, where are they? Hmm? What if there's no help coming, not ever? What if there's nothing? Just the motor-way, with the cars going round and round and round, never stopping? Forever?"

"Shut up! Just shut up," Valerie shrieked nearing hysterics. Before anything else could be said the console up front blared to life. "This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation."

It sounded like that news woman from the alleyway earlier. Bran sighed as some sort of vocal humming encompasses the room, "You think you know us so well, Doctor. But we're not abandoned. Not while we have each other."

The news woman's voice stopped the Doctor from any retort he might have made, "This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive safe."

"Why does she keep saying we're so sorry," I wondered out loud. If they knew about the traffic jam why hadn't they found a solution, they had all of twenty-four years and the whole future technology to fix the problem. It left for a lot of questions. The couple upfront start singing, it was probably what I heard outside. It was beautiful. I couldn't help but tear up a bit as I listen. "_On a hill, far away_

_Stood an old, rugged cross_

_The emblem of suffering and shame_

_And I love that old cross_

_Where the dearest and best_

_For a world of lost sinners was slain_

_So I'll cherish the old, rugged cross, rugged cross_

_Till my trophies at last I lay down, I lay down_

_I will cling to the old, rugged cross, rugged cross_

_And exchange it some day for a crown._"

I was glad none of the other adults were paying mind to me at that moment as I tried to wipe a few rouge tears away. For some reason the angelic hymn brought up memories of my mother. I quickly collected myself as the Doctor turned in my direction, eyes landing on the panel in the floor. "If you won't take us, I'll go down on my own."

He clambered over to the middle of the car, pulling out his handy dandy screwdriver, and started fiddling with it. Bran stood up a little, in slight alarm, trying to access what the Doctor was try to achieve, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Finding my own way. I usually do."

An electronic voice emitted from the car speakers as the panel popped up, "Capsule open."

I took a gander from my position outside and almost had a mini panic attack at the infinite height. I said almost had a panic attack! I wasn't gonna chicken out. Martha was in trouble after all. I had to buck up. So, no matter how many thousands of cars there were beneath, us disappearing into the abyss below, in an endless stream never ending stream, enshrouded in toxic fumes, we'd find her. No matter how daunting. After all I didn't think the Doctor was one to give up seeing as he looked as if he was about ready to jump on top of the car below us-oh my god he was gonna jump onto the car below us.

Taking off his coat he threw it to Valerie, "Here we go. Look after this. I love that coat. Janis Joplin gave me that coat."

He maneuvered himself so he's right above the hole in the floor. I tried to jump after him but found it rather difficult. "Wait! Doctor I can't let you go by yourself. I'm coming with you. Just let me move the kids."

He turned around at my protest to say something, but stopped as his eyes landed on my figure. Actually everyone was looking at me rather amused despite the situation. "What?"

Everyone, I assumed, were looking at all the kittens crawling all over me. One of which started getting naughty. "Ow. Hey, don't nibble on my ear! I need that."

Gently I picked the two off my shoulders and set them in the basket next to me as I tried to nab the little bugger on my head as he tried avoiding my hand. The Doc raised his eyebrow. I brushed it off, "What? I'm good with kids."

It looked like he was on the verge of smiling, but he returned to the serious look he'd don before. I felt a small argument forming. "No. I've already lost Martha, put her in danger and by proxy put you in danger as well. It's best if you just stay put for now," he paused, peering deep into my eyes, "Don't worry I _will_ come back for you."

Everything in that stare told me that he would. That maybe I should just be quiet and do as he said. But, everything in that stare also told me he was running close to the edge. A place I was once familiar with. That he was one step from falling off and my gut told me it didn't all have to do with Martha's kidnapping. There were more layers to his emotions, but for the life of me I couldn't guess what they were. I set the last kitten into the basket.

"Doctor. Martha and I knew there would be risks. After all we both met under what people would consider 'strenuous' circumstances. So, with that in mind, I'm coming with you. We can argue about it all day and waste time _or_ you could just accept my help. And Doctor," it was my turn to gaze into his fathomless eyes, "I'm American, we're built stubborn. So, _believe me_ when I say I can argue all day, but I have a feeling Martha doesn't have all day so what will you do."

I folded my arms, sending him my best stubborn American glower, boing holes into him, hoping it worked. And, by some higher power, it seemed to. He sighed and waved me over. "Fine, but do everything I say, and no foul language."

"All right," I quipped moving over, "I promise not to make any bird calls."

I was pretty sure I elicited a smirk from him, but if he did, I couldn't tell as he positioned himself above the hole in the floor, legs dangling. "I'll go first and then you jump out right after. Ready?"

I nodded positioning myself on the other side of the opening, gripping the metal rim tightly. Valerie jumped up from her seat, "But you can't jump!"

"If it's any consolation, Valerie, right now," the Doctor watched the car underneath us, "I'm having kittens."

"This Martha – she must mean an awful lot to you," Bran asked. "Hardly know her. I was too busy showing off. And I lied to her," he shot me an apologetic look, "and I lied to you. Couldn't help it, just lied."

His eyes gazed at me, imploring for forgiveness, but for what I had no idea. A new car pulled up underneath. He looked back up to our hosts. "Bye then," and with that said, the Doctor lowered himself out of the car and dropped onto the one below. Next was my turn. I looked down and swallowed. Wasn't the greatest idea, but had agreed to it, could chicken out then. I mean falling to my death wasn't on the agenda but, then again, I don't think it was on Martha's either.

Taking a leap of faith I dropped down next to him with a loud metallic thud, almost falling over in the process. Thank god, he grabbed my arm to steady me. I would've thanked him if I wasn't already coughing from the smoke. Covered my mouth with my coat I watched him get to work, opening the hatch with the screwdriver. I had to get me one of those! I'd never have to worry about a locked door again. Never would I be stuck outside my apartment waiting for the creepy super to open it when I inevitably left my keys inside. And never would I-Oh look the hatch was open. Finally.

Quickly I followed him down landing next to the Doctor, thankful for the small reprieve of filtrated air. The car happened to be very sterile and white, just as white as the man driving it. Did he paint himself or was he an alien like me. Well, not exactly like me. I was a normal color. Well, I supposed to him he was a normal color and he seemed to be a little put out that we'd just dropped in unannounced. Good thing he wasn't doing anything private, that would have been really awkward. "Who the hell are you?"

"Sorry, Motor-way Foot Patrol," the Doctor stated, grabbing his psychic paper from his coat and flipped it open for a second before putting it away, "We're doing a survey. How are you enjoying your motor-way?

He twirled around and kneeled down to work on the next hatch. The man nervously shifted in his seat, confused, but went along with it. "Well, not very much. Junction Five's been closed for three years!"

I took the lack of talking as my cue to say something official, "Sorry about the delay, we're aware of the situation and have our best men on it. Not much longer now."

The Doctor ripped open the hatch and smiled up at the man, "Thank you. Your comments have been noted. Have a nice day!"

He leapt down onto the next car. I gave a salute to the white man before following suit and landing next to the Doctor, just as he popped open the next car. Which was good as the air outside was stifling.

The car we fell into had two asian girls wearing stylish clothes. I loved what they had done with the place, very anime punk. They appeared really surprised at the intrusion, only to be expected, though it was kind of fun. Popping into peoples cars and surprising them, like an impromptu birthday party except it wasn't anyones birthday and there was no party. Maybe we'd pop in on one. I smiled at the girls, "Sorry Motor-way Foot Patrol."

The Doctor looked up from where he was sonicing the hatch, "Thank you for your cooperation. Your comments have been noted."

He noticed something hanging from a shelve near-by. Reaching out a hand snatched up a purple and blue handkerchief. He threw the purple one to me as he tied the blue one around his face. "Do you mind if we borrow these? Not my color," he commented at the item before pointing to mine, "yours looks very nice, but thank you very much."

I smiled behind it and yell after him as I landed on the next car, "I know I'm like a rainbow of color now."

I jumped down next to the Doctor announcing my presence to the owners, "Sorry, Motor-way Foot- oh!"

I quickly averted my eyes to the floor. Well, I suppose it was inevitable we'd walk in on something but, it looked like we'd popped in on a couple of nudists. Guess, they didn't really need clothes, it was just them in there. Wasn't as if they were exactly expecting company. The woman tried and covered herself up as the Doctor hastily turned away as well. "Oh! Don't mind me."

We quickly moved onto the next car. In that one was a very large red man. The Doctor saluted him and moved onto the hatch. I would have said something, but I was trying to catch my breath as we had to leap to the next car.

* * *

><p>So we kept moving. To the next car, and to the next car, and sequential so on. We'd gone thru over fifty-two cars each one with all sorts of different people and species. A couple even offered us some refreshment and more that a few even flirted, though with which one of us I had no idea. I would've enjoyed everything more if the smoke wasn't so god awful, by the time we'd reached the last layer we were both coughing. About ready to hack up a lung.<p>

Then, hooray, we'd final reached the last car. Maybe I could clear my lungs of all the smog filling it. They must've be black by then. As we popped the top like a tuna can we dropped down. The man in said car spun around to face us with fright, "'Scuse me, is that legal?"

The Doctor leaned on his seat trying to catch his breathe, "Sorry, Motor-way Foot Patrol."

But he was coughing so hard he could hardly finish the spiel, he wiped his face with the handkerchief instead, trying to catch his breath. I removed mine and placed it in my bag. Which by some miracle I hadn't lost or broken anything in it as we traveled down. Though I did loose my star shaped sunglasses. I loved those glasses. That's when I noticed the man's attire. He was wearing a bowler hat and pinstriped suit combo that looked Victorian pimp. It was then and there I decide I need a hat like that. I'd look cool.

"Whatever. Have you got any water," the Doctor asked the man in the pimpin' outfit. He adjusted his lapels huffishly, "Certainly. Never let it be said I've lost my manners."

Leaning over he filled a plastic cone at the water cooler near his chair and handed it over to me first, then grabbed another for the Doctor. I thanked him when I could find I could properly breath again.

"Is this the last layer," the Doctor asked gazing out the grim covered windows.

"Ah, we're right at the bottom," the man answered, "Nothing below us but the fast lane."

"Can we drive down?"

"You need three to go down."

"We have three," The Doctor pointed out, gesturing between the three of us. Bowler hat ruffled at the correction. "Well, I'd love to, but it's an automated system. The wheel would lock," he quickly stated, clearly trying to avoid going to the fast lane by finding some excuse. I guessed people really were afraid to go down there. But why have it then if everyone was so afraid of it!

"If you'll excuse me," the Doctor said, rushing past me to the hatch on the floor, running his sonic around the rim. Man I was getting tired of those. Bowler hat shifted worriedly for his seat when he did that, "You can't jump. It's a thousand feet down!"

"No, I just want to look."

The hatch popped open and I peered over. Something strange moved in the thick murky smog bellow so pointed down into, "Doctor what are those tiny little lights? Are they the cars in the fast lane, because they don't move like normal traffic."

"I don't know, but what's that noise?

Sure enough a weird screech blasted up at us, it sort of resembled large carnivorous dinosaur. Were there dinosaurs in the future? Maybe. They could have technology to bring them back, so it wasn't exactly out of the realm of possibility. But why would they be at the bottom of motor-way? You know what, it didn't matter. My ideas were stupid.

Bowler hat took a sharp intake of air warily looking down the open hatch, "I try not to think about it."

Now my ideas may have been stupid but the Doctor seemed to have come to some theory as he stared into the dark abyss, "Adler you're right about those lights they aren't cars. What's down there?"

Smoke wafted in as the Doctor and I tried and wave it away as it obstructed the view further. He frowned, "I just need to see."

Suddenly he launched himself to the front of the car and began sonicing the screen on the dashboard. His countenance becoming slightly manic like he already knew the answer to his question but just needed the proof that came with sight. "There must be some sort of ventilation," he stated, "If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, maybe I could trip the system, give us a bit of a breeze."

Before anyone could stop him he pulled the screen off it's hinges exposing the wiring underneath. "Excuse me," bowler hat hollered, "but what do you think you're doing!"

"Doctor," I reprimanded, moving closer, "I think you should ask before taking things apart if they belong to the person next to you."

He continued fiddling with the colored wires and crystal chips. Barely looking away he humored me with a one sided conversation. "Right, of course sorry. Can I take this apart? Yes? Alright. Thank you. You're welcome."

I tried not to smile at his rude way of asking for permission. Especially since it wasn't really asking for permission. The man huffed from beside him at his tact but didn't proceed to stop him. Pulling out wires he began fusing, pulling, and stripping others apart with his screwdriver till he put a green and a blue wire together. The act resulted with a spark of electricity. A loud sound, almost like an old air conditioner starting up, resounded from outside of the cabin. Which sent him running back to where I was watching the smog beginning to dissipate bellow us. "That's it," the Doctor exclaimed in triumph, "Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look."

Bowler hat left his seat with curiosity and we all crowd around the hole to observe the weird shapes emerging in the remaining vapors. Definitely not cars, because whatever was under there had claws. Big crab claws to be exact. Very large crab claws.

Bowler hat scanned the scene with worry, his face paling considerably, "What are those shapes?"

"They're alive," the Doctor noted.

"Well, they have giant crab like claws," I stated obviously, taking a shot in the dark, "So giant crabs?"

The smog finally cleared, revealing my guess to be accurate. If it were a game show I'd be jumping up and down reveling in my correct answer. But it was reality so I refrain from doing so. After all, it made the situation much more serious. God I hoped Martha was ok.

Bowler hat backed away from the hatch with fright, flinching each time those claws snapped up for his car. "What the hell are they?"

I didn't think it was possible, but the Doctor's face became even more grave. He snarled at the creatures, "Macra."

I paled at his physical response, "So Martha's down there with those…"

"Yes giant crabs, but they're not crabs. The Macra used to be the scourge of this galaxy. Gas. They fed off gas, the filthier the better. They built up a small empire using humans as slaves and mining gas for food."

"They don't exactly look like empire-builders to me," Bowler hat commented, leery enough of the Macra that he backed up farther from the hatch.

I had to agree with him on that count, "Yeah, they seem more lower functioning actually."

"Well, that was billions of years ago. Billions! They must've devolved down the years and now they're just beasts. But they're still hungry and our friend's down there."

A large metal thud erupted from above us on the roof. We all look up with surprise by the sudden noise. I guessed someone else was car hopping as well. "Oh, it's like New Times Square in here," bowler hat complained, "for goodness's sake!"

I laughed at that but immediately stopped when I spotted feet dangling from the ceiling. A cat woman wearing a nuns outfit dropped down to the floor. The Doctor sent me a boyish grin, "I've invented a sport!"

I lightly smacked his chest, "I think you mean '_we_' invented a sport."

The cat woman seemed exited when her gaze fell onto the Doctor, like she recognized him. Relief washed over her features, "Doctor, you're a hard man to find."

Bowler hat instantly became upset when he spotted the gun in her hands, "No guns! I'm not having guns!"

I raised my hand only to retract it as it smacked into the ceiling, "I second that motion!"

She scoffed waving it around, "I only brought this in case of pirates. Doctor, you've got to come with me."

He frowned, "Do I know you?"

"You haven't aged at all," she smiled looking away, "Time has been less kind to me."

Light bulb! The Doctor erupted into a shinning smile and pulled her into a hug, "Novice Hame!"

I wondered if she had been a companion at some point. That would have been interesting concept. I imagined how things would go he had they landed in Shakespearian times, but I had a feeling they didn't. Mainly because he suddenly jumped away from her like she was on fire, "No, hold on. Get off! Last time we met, you were breeding humans for experimentation."

Ok, definitely not a companion then. I looked away from them for a second and almost laughed at the surprised horrified face of our unsuspecting host. Not that my face appeared any different, but still I thought it was funny. You know I had a bad habit of finding things funny at the most inappropriate of times.

The woman shook off the accusation, "I've sought forgiveness, Doctor. For so many years, under his guidance. And if you come with me, I might finally be able to redeem myself."

"I'm not going anywhere," the Doctor snarled, taking a step back, "You've got Macra living underneath this city. Macra! And if our friend's still alive, she's stuck down there!"

"No, no, no," he added thinking of another idea, "you're coming with me. We've got much more than three passengers now."

She grabbed his wrist. "I'm sorry, Doctor," she shook her head, "But the situation is even worse than you can imagine."

Quickly, she slide her sleeve up and pressed a button on the weird wrist band she wore. "Transport."

"Don't you dare," he yelled, trying to wrench his arm from hers, "Don't you dare!"

"Doctor what is she-," but my question was to late. Once second, he was there before me arguing with the cat woman, the next they had disappeared. Vanished right in front of my eyes. Like the _'beam me up scotty'_ sort of vanishing. Craptacular!

Bowler hat and I just stared at the spot for a couple seconds. I gazed at the stranger I found myself stuck with. I didn't even know his name. If I was going to be stuck there I should probably make polite. "So...what's your name?"

I was starting to hate having to refer to him as Bowler hat and, figuring I might be there for a while waiting for the Doctor, it might make things move faster if there was conversation. So it might be nice to know his name. "Right of course where are my manners," he extended his right hand to me, "I'm Walter. Walter Jones. Pleasure."

I tried not to wince at the mention of _Jones_ and grabbed it, "Echo. Echo Adler. Same."

He appeared surprised for a moment. Like he might have recognized the name, but he didn't say as such, so I shrugged it off. "Lets shut this shall we."

He reached down and shut the hatch, covering the Macra from sight. Good I'd rather not look at them. Absentmindedly I gripped the strap of my bag, well, wasn't this awkward. He cleared his throat. I look away then back at him, catching him doing the same gesture. I smiled and he returned it. He cleared his throat again, "Ahem, right. Let me get you a seat."

I waved my hands, "Oh, no I don't want to be a bother. I'm sure the Doctor will be back to get me anytime now."

"Well, until then," he pressed a button on the wall causing the water cooler to recede into it, "please feel free to have a seat while you wait."

Flicking a switch on the dashboard a car seat popped out of a panel in the floor, folding out. Well, that was nifty! Made it easier to make space in the already small spaces of the cars. He patted the passenger seat gingerly, gesturing for me to sit down. I supposed it couldn't hurt to humor him.

Sitting down I attempted to get comfortable as he returned to his seat. Awkwardly I tapped on the arm rests, "So...what do you do to pass the time?"

"Oh, an assortment of things," Walter mused, playing with the steering wheel, "Crosswords, brain teasers, read a good book, or sometimes I play chess with the chap in car two four diamond eight seven. Like I said, an assortment of things. What about you?"

"About the same...well I also draw and take pictures, go to the beach, hang with friends. You know an assortment of things," I answered, copying his last statement. Except the second I mentioned the beach he perked up in his seat, turning to me with excitement. "You've been to the over city! What's it like?"

"Oh sorry no. I'm...well," crap, I should have been more careful in my answer, "I'm from another planet I guess you could say. But my friend, the one who was just here, the Doctor, he's been to the over city. From what I can tell it seems very nice. He liked it after all."

Again, I saw that same flash of recognition cross his features, but again he never said anything. So I had to ask. "I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude...but have we met?"

He shifted uncomfortably and shook his head, "No. Not personally. It's just-"

"It's just what?"

He returned his attention back to the road, "No. Sorry it's nothing. Don't worry about."

I eyed him suspiciously, but didn't push the issue. Didn't want to agitate the designated driver after all. That was how unnecessary drama occurred. Before things could lull into an awkward silence a sudden large crashing sound blasted from above us. Reverberating through the cabin. "What's that!"

Walter worriedly leaned over the steering wheel trying to look upward, "I don't know!"

He kept sitting down then getting back up, trying to see what was happening up above us. I attempted to do the same but there were too many cars in the way. Walter started getting fidgety and gripped the steering wheel nervously. Fear of the unknown over took his features so I reached out with a comforting pat on the shoulder. Something that seemed to help a little or at least earned me a small smile.

Then in a flash of illumination, I found myself blinded by sunlight streaming through the windshield, exhaust disappearing in a whoosh. That unnerved Walter, but I supposed it would, depending on how long he'd lived in the under city he might have never seen real sunlight before. I however let out a belt of whooping laughter and pull him across the dashboard into a joyful hug. "It's the sun! It's the sun!

His eyes widened in realization to what I'd said and wrapped me into a bigger hug laughing the same thing, "It's the sun!"

We pulled apart as the Doctor's face appeared on the screen in the back of the car. I grinned, "Doctor!"

"Sorry, no Sally Calypso, she was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor. And this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now."

I guess he was broadcasting to everyone as I received no response. I didn't know why I'd think he'd be able figure out what car I was in exactly, their were probably millions of them.

"I've opened the roof of the motor-way. Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you, the whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast! We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way."

I buckled myself in and grinned over to Walter, "You heard the man. Drive up!"

"Oi! Car Four Six Five Diamond Six! Martha! Drive up!"

Walter started laughing shifting gears and revving the engine, "Over city and proper tea here we come."

"You've got access above! Now go! You keep driving, Brannigan, all the way up! 'Cause it's here, just waiting for you. The city of New New York. And it's yours. And don't forget — I want that coat back."

"Is there anyway we can radio the Doctor?"

"Yes here," He picked up the receiver and turned a few dials near the broken screen, " Just press the button on the side and with any luck you should get through."

I clicked the button on the side and pulled the device up towards my mouth, "Doctor? Can you hear me. Over. I've always wanted to say over. Over."

"Adler! Sorry about the abrupt exit. Didn't mean to leave you behind. And don't do that, no more over's. Now, if you can have the young gentlemen drop you off I'm sending you the flight path. Come to the senate."

I pressed the button again, "over and out."

"Oh you," I turned to see him wag his finger on the back screen, but since he was clearing grinning I knew it was a half hearted reprimand. With a small shudder to the cabin we lifted out of the motor-way, emerging into the open sky. Magnificent skyscrapers rose from the ground like shining spires, glistening in the light ahead of us. I pointed towards the city, "you think you could get us there."

"Since he my screens left in pieces I'll have to do so manually. It might get a bit bumpy."

"Oh, I'm sure I've had a bumpier ride," I beamed, "Do your worst."

"And Car Four Six Five Diamond Six," the speakers rang out as we flew between the tops of building, "I've sent you a flight path as well. So come to the Senate. It's been quite a while since I saw you, Martha Jones."

* * *

><p>"Well, Walter it's been lovely," I saluted walking backwards into the Romanesque building behind me, the marbled steps underfoot. He stood by the open door of his vehicle. "Yes, I suppose it has. But Echo…"<p>

I stopped grinning back at him, "Yes?"

He looked like a deer caught in the head light, caught between a truth and a lie. My smile fell. Walter shifted and readjusted the lapels of his coat. "There's something you need to know. Something important. I was telling the truth when I said I've never met you but though you reminded me of...your name- I've heard your name before. It's-"

Before he could finish his statement, whatever it was, became drowned out as another car landed next to his. He glanced at it, then returned his attention back to me. He paused. Shaking his head to rid himself of some thought he mouthed an _'I'm sorry'_ before stepping back into his car, sliding the door shut behind him. He waved from the car window as he took off, hot air blowing my hair around me. I raced forward in protest, "Wait! What were you gonna say! Wait! Walter come back!"

"Echo," A familiar voice rang out. Suddenly I found myself involved in a bone crushing hug from none other than Martha. Whatever he was going to tell me I'd never know now. "I'm glad to see you too Martha. But I'd find I'll appreciate it more if I can breath."

She laughed gleefully letting me go, "Sorry, just happy to be alive. What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing. Just trying to say good bye was all."

"Well let's go then." she smiled bumping my shoulder playfully, "Don't want to keep the Doctor waiting."

I nodded with a half grin that fell the instant she ran into the building. I followed her with a more subdued pace while she practically skipped through the roman architecture, my mind somewhere else. I only caught up to her in the senate room because something in that room had her staring in fright. There, in the middle of the senate, was a skeleton lying on a piece of fallen stone flooring. I'm guessing he dropped from above. Like say from the stone balcony that encompassed the room. Where stone seats held the other rest of the skeletal senate. He brought us to all the nicest places didn't he.

Martha called out a bit freaked by all the death, "Doctor?"

His voice traveled from another room, "Over here."

He didn't to good. Oh god, that made me wary of what was in next room. I peeked around a large column cautiously, "Doctor?"

Martha practically pushed me over bolting for him, "Doctor!...what happened out there?"

Finding my balance I jogged after her. What I found was not at all what I had expected. There was a giant face in a jar, well more like a giant face that was laying on the floor in front of a broken jar that had probably once been housed in it. I was game though. Walking in I made my way next to the Doctor who kneeled in front of it, next to Novice Hame. I looked upon the creature sadly, "Is it ok?"

"What's that," Martha asked drowning out my question.

"It's the Face of Boe," the Doctor waved her over, "It's all right, Martha. Come and say hello. And this is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry."

Slowly she approached the face. Our friend smiled halfheartedly at the creature. "He's the one that saved you, not me."

She knelt beside me, to gather a closer look, as Novice Hame spoke, "My lord gave his life to save the city. And now he's dying."

"No, don't say that," the Doctor quickly denied, "Not old Boe. Plenty of life left."

The face in question began to talk but it's mouth didn't move. So it must have been telepathic or something. I think I had watched enough sci-fi's to take an educated guess. "It's good to breathe the air once more."

Martha watched Boe sadly, "Who is he?"

"I don't even know," the Doctor answered, "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."

I swore Boe looked right at me as he spoke the first bit of his sentence. "Everything has its time," his eyes shifted to the Doctor quickly, "You know that, old friend, better than most."

I was about to ask Boe something when Hame's head quickly jerked up the the doctor, "The legend says more."

"Don't," the timelord muttered, "There's no need for that."

"It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller."

"Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?"

"I have seen so much," Boe sighed with the weight of a long life, "Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind — as you are the last of yours, Doctor."

The Doctor appeared desperate. As if he were trying to deny what was occurring before him. I could understand that. There was already to much death in that room already. But then I swished my head in his direction when something I heard registered. Last of his kind?

"That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go."

"I must. But know this, Time Lord," he paused with the brevity of his next words, "You are not alone."

I almost cried when that big face looked straight at me. I could see a flash of recognition in those big old eyes. The same sort of recognition I seemed to have gotten from Walter. Yet the look was more akin to one you give to an old friend. Someone you love. I frowned. Was he someone I would meet in the future? Was I someone from his past?

I gazed into those big hazels as they closed shut for the last time. A stifled sob resounds from my left but I don't acknowledge it. I already moved away from the scene, into the next room. I felt as though I might had just watched a good friend pass away and it was a crushing feeling. Because it wasn't fair to Boe. I had no idea who they were and yet they knew me. How they must have felt realizing I had no recollection of them, that we had yet to meet in my timeline. That a complete stranger had stood before them in their last moment. I hoped we at least brought him some sort of comfort in the end, but knew it was unlikely. Before I could fall further into sorrowful thought I was jolted away from the ledge as I discovered myself enveloped in a hug.

I immediately knew it was the Doctor. He was the only person I had ever met where I couldn't guess what they smelt like. Not that I was complaining it was a nice scent. I mumbled into his suit vest. "Hi."

"Hello."

* * *

><p>When had Bran showed up to give the Doctor back his coat we ended up hitching a ride back to pharmacy town with him. Which he was more than happy to give. This time it only took about five minutes, I have to say that was a lot better than a couple years.<p>

We had landed in an area somewhere near the vendors. I could tell since it didn't take us long that long till we had spotted those big green booths. Thankfully, this time, they had closed up shop. It was kinda when I read those closed signs plaqued onto the front of them.

The Doctor smiled as he sauntered up to one, "All closed down."

I had pumped a fist into the air, "Hooray!"

"Happy," Martha asked staring around the empty street. The Doctor turned towards her, "Happy happy."

We all laughed in agreement before sobering into smiles. The Doctor strolled forward, walking in the direction of the TARDIS. "New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs — cats in charge! Come on, time we were off."

We were following after him. No complaints when Martha stopped me. "What? What's wrong Martha?"

She kept me still beside her and rounded on our driver. "But what did he mean, the Face of Boe? '_You're not alone_.'"

The Doctor turned around with a shrug. "I don't know."

Martha took a couple steps after him, sashaying those hips back and fourth, that seductive smile plastered on her face, "You've got me-us. Is that what he meant?"

No it wasn't. He shook his head and tried not to smile, "I don't think so. Sorry."

She crossed her arms in her usually agitated huff, "Then what?!"

"Doesn't matter. Back to the TARDIS, off we go," he ushered, "Lets go Adler."

He started moving away once again so I made to follow, thinking it was over, but Martha grabbed my hand halting me. "Echo sit down."

She pulled me over to a fallen chair and unearthed it from the ruble, forcing me to sit next to her on the tiny thing. The Doctor heard the metallic clang and turned around again. "All right, you staying?"

"'Till you talk to us properly, yes. He said, _last of your kind_. What does that mean?"

Ok, so we're an '_us_'. So that was how it went, when she wanted something we're an '_us_' but when she wanted the Doctor's sole attention it was an '_I_'. Rolling my eyes I move to stand but she ripped me back down. I felt like the the kid in the middle of a parents argument.

"It really doesn't matter," he stated, leaving no room for dispute. Something that had no effect on Martha, "You don't talk. You never say! Why not?"

"Martha do you think now is really the time-," I stopped my argument when music filtered from above. It was the city, they were singing again. "It's the city," she sighed wistfully, "They're singing."

"It's beautiful," I added.

The Doctor sighed as the tone changed, "I lied to you, both of you, 'cause I liked it. I could pretend. Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else."

I leaned forward, "What happened?"

He moved to grab a chair of his own from underneath a couple boxes, then sat across from us. "There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song …"

As we sat there listening to his tale, of the life he had lived, of the people he had loved, I couldn't help but feel as though my own pain was so trivial compared to what he had lost so long ago. I should have realized it back then when the Doctor was talking about Gallifrey. I should have realized the path my life was hurtling towards, but maybe I didn't want to know. Because in that moment everything else seemed so insignificant and that nothing else could be worse than the Time War. One day I would out how wrong I was. Things could always get worse.

* * *

><p>Please rate and review ^_^<p>

**NEXT EPISODE**: Daleks in Manhattan


	6. Daleks in Manhattan

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

Sorry it took me so long to update. I got caught up in reading a lot of sherlock fics T_T sorry Also I have another Doctor who fic I'm working on as well. Some love would be appreciated especially for the sherlock fic I just started as well. Anywho here it is. I apologize for any spelling errors I may have made as I did rush to get it posted.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS gave that familiar lurch. The one I was steadily becoming so accustom too. Yet instead of the usual excitement that flip flopped around in the pit of my stomach I was accosted by something else entirely. A strange wave of unease had washed over me like a cold splash of water. A foreboding feeling. One I'd foolishly shrugged off at the time. Later, in the privacy of my own turbulent thoughts, I would wonder if I had known what awaited me outside those blue doors if I would have stepped through them. It was always the little things that got you in the end wasn't it. That split second decision on something that appeared so trivial and mundane but through some domino effect ended up changing the whole course of your life. It had already happened to me once, so I never thought it would happen again.<p>

But I didn't trust what my instincts had been trying to tell me. Foolishly pushing them aside as post flight jitters. One day I'd learn to listen to them, but that wasn't that day. That day the Doctor was taking us on an apology trip for lying. Which I hadn't really thought he had done, because there was no good way to come out and say '_just to let you know I killed my whole race as they were going to destroy the universe so that's why I'm the last timelord_'. Not really the best conversational topic. But I didn't say anything because we got to bum another ride off him. Which had lead me to the conclusion that he didn't really want us to leave. After all, the _last_ of anything could make anyone lonely.

Martha jumped up excitedly rushing out the front doors as the great machine landed with a shudder. I followed at a more subdued pace, my nerves knocking me off my game, the Doctor followed right behind us. "Where are we," Martha asked looking around. The briny air of the ocean had engulfed us in our new surrounding. A smell that reminded me of home. As had I spotted the city Island across from us a feeling of familiarity had overtaken me, the tall and large over crowded brick and stone buildings kept calling to me. Maybe I had seen them on a postcard once.

The Doctor grinned exuberantly, all traces from our earlier conversation forgotten, or at least tucked away somewhere far into the recesses of his mind. "Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze. Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, Adler, have you met my friend?"

We both turn around to see what he's talking about. Looking up at the looming exhibit before us. Martha gasped flabbergasted, "Is that-? Oh my God! That's the Statue of Liberty!"

I jump up and down with excitement, fists waving in the air, "Wahoo, pizza!"

"Oh, it's always food with you in'nit," he smirked. I dramatically pretended that his comment hurt, "Is not. It's just New York is known for it's amazing pizza and I thought since we're here…we might as well-you know."

He waved me off. "Oh, I'll think about it. But look where we are. I thought you of all people might appreciate it. Gateway to the New World. 'Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free,'" he walked over to the islands edge, the manhattan skyline sprung fourth in the distance, "Well, there's the genuine article. So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

I rolled my eyes at his trivia but smiled and kept my comments to my self, else he'd go off tangent and then I'd never get a slice. Of course I had a feeling I might not as something about this picturesque view seemed wrong. Maybe it was the older looking ships or the lack of a few prominent buildings that tipped me off, but something about our picturesque view didn't quite feel right.

Martha, who must have somehow read my mind, pointed out one of my concerns, "I wonder what year it is 'cause look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet."

Sure enough, the top part of the tower was still in construction. So we were most likely before 1931. Which I would know considering I had done a paper on the building in fifth grade. The only thing they seemed to teach us in history class after third grade was American. Over and over again. And from my calculations that meant-

The Doctor peered at the building, "Work in progress. Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around—," Martha picks up a paper from a near by bench reading the date before he finished, "November 1st, 1930."

The Doctor blinked surprised turning around, "You're getting good at this."

I laughed and pointed at the gazette in her hands, "It's more like she cheated."

She stuck out her tongue at me, smiling all the same. I leaned over myself to get a proper look at the paper, but the Doctor snatched it from her before I could. Martha sighed wistfully. "Eighty years ago. It's funny 'cause you see all those old newsreels in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now," she chuckled, "Come on you two. Where do we go first?

The Doctor grimly showed us an article on the paper, "I think our detour just got longer."

Martha frowned scanning the page, "_Hooverville Mystery Deepens_. What's Hooverville?"

Yep, definitely not getting any pizza, but I did know where we were headed. "So," I interjected, "shall we be taking the ferry or Ché TARDIS to central park?"

"Well," the Doctor drawled, "I wouldn't be giving you the complete New York experience if we didn't at least ride the ferry once. So lets get a move on you two or will miss it."

In a burst of energy he ran off towards the pier on the other side of the statue. I turned to Martha with a bemused look, "He does realize we need tickets to get on, right."

She shook her head chuckling at the thought, "I don't think he's really paid for a thing in his life."

I laughed in agreement watching him turn around, realizing we weren't behind him, "Your probably right."

"Oi," he shouted, waving a hand, "Enough with the chit chat. Hurry up or I'll leave you two behind."

Martha frowned, "He wouldn't do that, would he?"

"Can you see him waiting for another lift over?"

We had both smiled at each other coming to the same conclusion. Quickly we rushed after. "Wait for us!"

* * *

><p>The waters had been a little rough that day. The boat rocked back and fourth in earnest vigor, much to the dismay of Martha. She was beginning to look a little green. Rummaging around in my bag I searched till I found my prize, a small bag of pretzels. I was quite hungry myself, but Martha appeared to need the snack more than I did. She was one more boat rock from hurling off the side of the ferry. I waved the item in front of myself, "Martha."<p>

She looked up from the wall she was leaning against. I threw her the bag as she caught it midair. She peered at the snack dubiously, "Pretzels?"

"They'll help settle your stomach. I've lived on the ocean my whole life so I know a few remedy's for sea sickness. I've had quite a few friends come down with it. Also if you sit in the middle of the boat it should help as well."

She looked at them and weakly sent a smile. "Thanks."

The boat gave another particular hard lurch and her face scrunched up. "Martha are you-" she ran off before I had a chance to finish. The doors swung closed behind her, "-ok."

Blowing a strand of hair out of my face I turned to look out at the ocean, inhaling the air deeply. God I loved the ocean. Mom had a family cottage by the sea out on Little Neck, not far from where my apartment was, we'd live there every summer. She would joke that I had to be part fish as I couldn't seem to stay out of the Atlantic for more than thirty seconds. Never had I been more happier then those days so long ago. Letting out a content sigh I leaned my arms further over the railing, watching the water chop around the port side of the boat. The doors behind me swung open. "Is Martha alright," the Doctor asked, "She was looking a bit green when she passed."

He pulled up right next me and perched himself onto the banister. I tried to fight down a smile, "She will be once we get on land. She's just feelin' a little sea sick I think. Which is kind of funny as she had no problem with the TARDIS."

"How about you. How are you feeling?"

I raised an eyebrow at that. Something I noticed he did a lot, which meant he must be rubbing off on me. I shrugged looking back down at the ocean frothing around us. "Fine, why?"

"Well, it's just that you haven't once tried to brooch the subject of your new found heritage. Most people would be brimming with questions by now."

"I'm not most people."

He smiled glancing at me, "No. Your not."

We stared at the water in silence, each with nothing to add, for more than two minutes before I caved to the quiet. Only after I had started talking did I realize that that had been his aim all along. I sighed, "It's not like I don't have questions. It's just I don't want to know. I mean, I know I'm an alien right, but that doesn't have to change anything. If I were to open that door...if I open that door-," I trailed off trying to swallow down emotions that had been chasing me all my life. The Doctor moved to stand up to his full height. I could feel his eyes boring into me. Assessing me. "What? What'll happen?"

I took a deep breath settling down, trying not to look up at him, "My parents abandoned me Doctor. I was no more than two or three and they just abandoned me one cold winter day on the side of the road like trash. I almost died. From there I was put into the system where I went from home to home with other kids, anything I owned shoved into a trash bag like that's all I was. Some times the people who took care of us were nice and some times...not so much. Yet, through all of that, not once did I wonder where I had come from or who my parents were. I figured if they didn't want me I didn't want them. Because if I opened that door and answered those questions I'd be letting in all the things I've been tying to avoid my entire life."

The shoreline ahead crept ever closer. Yet it couldn't come soon enough to dissolve that conversation before most of my cards ended up on the table. "Thats why you carry that bag everywhere with you isn't it," he theorized, tugging on the strap, "I bet if someone were to take a look in there they'd find the only worldly possessions you care about. And considering how worn and faded it is the bag must be special."

I look down at it lovingly, patting the raggedy material. "Yeah. The first person to ever care gave me it. I was told to pack my things as someone had just adopted me. God, I was a torrent of emotions. I'd never been so scared and nervous in my life. I was so afraid of getting my hopes up, that I'd finally get the family I'd always wish for, only to have it come crumbling down around me. I was so used to disappointment that it's what I'd come to expect from people. All that heavy stuff weighing down on me. I wanted to hide. I was going to run. But before I could this little old lady came waddling into my room wearing the brightest clothing I'd ever set eyes on. You may think it's stupid but she said the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. I'd never forget. Even if she did towards the end. _'Why are you throwing all those wonderful things away? I think you'd have a lot more fun with them if you brought them with you. After all every adventurer needs a side kick! Where else are they supposed to put all the treasures they find._' And before I could make some stupid sharp retort she pulled out this bag from her huge purse, giving it to me. I almost cried when she said it was mine to keep. No one had ever given me something till then. Everything I'd owned was something some else left behind, something like me."

"But that's not why you don't want any answers," he stated softly, "It's not just because you're afraid of what might be lurking behind that door. No, it's something more."

I sighed wearily, willing the boat to dock us faster. A hand was gently placed upon mine, wrapping around it. I looked up at him, realizing the things I'd exposed. Thing I'd never told anyone. So I felt a small flare of irritation that he could elicit such secrets from me. That he could so easily slip past my barriers, but any sharp tongued reply I might have had died when his eyes meet mine. Those kind understanding chocolate orbs. "Why," I shifted, quickly averting my eyes, "Why does it matter. It's not important. Even if you know my reasoning it won't change my decision."

"Echo. Everything is important," he said. Again those eyes met mine. How could anyone say no let alone not spill their guts when peering into those deep earthy pools of brown. I pushed off the railing to let out an aggravated whine, panic slightly bubbling up. Rubbing my hands through my hair I rush up to him wagging my finger in his face, "Alright! I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone. I've never told any of these things to anyone before so you can't tell a soul. You are now in a circle of trust Doctor. Circle of trust! And being in the circle you can't tell anyone else about it. It's like fight club except without the fighting. Alright?"

He waved his hands in defeat, "Cross my hearts."

I pulled away to lean my back against the railing, this time gazing into the cabin. "The reason I don't want to know isn't a new concept. I had once had an opportunity to search for those answers, though now I realize I wouldn't have found them as my biologicals were aliens. You see I feel like searching for those answers would be a betrayal. One that would mean that the loopy little old lady, the one I called mom, it'd mean she hadn't been enough for me. That what she did for me meant nothing, and it'll cheapen what she really gave me the first time we met."

"And what would that be?"

I gestured to my mouth, "My smile."

His eyes widened as he had come to realization no one knew save myself. That during a dark part of my childhood, at the very beginning, there had been no happiness. That there had been no love. That there my only friend had been crushing loneliness. Before he could say all the things rushing to the forefront of his mind the boat jolted forward a bit as we bumped into the harbor. Just enough to send me careening sideways into the Doctor. Instantly he grabbed my arms, steadying me. A man yelled out in the background alerting us a little to late that we'd docked, and that it was time to leave. Martha pushed through the doors wiping her mouth. Color returning to her cheeks. Looking up, she peered between the two of us before settling a scathing look upon me. But as soon as it appeared it disappeared, vanishing form sight. Dude, what was with her tude! She turned, smiling at the Doctor, "I think this is our stop."

His mouth fished open between the two of us. Clearly he wanted to respond to our earlier conversation but, due to Martha's presence, he couldn't. Thank you circle of trust. If I had believed in a higher power I'd be praising them right then. I was already feeling exposed and stupid the more I talked, the more vulnerable I became at laying myself so raw and open to his scrutiny. Of course, I always felt dumb anytime I talked about my feelings. I was just socially stunted that way I supposed. He cleared his throat, "Yes, of course. Off we go then."

* * *

><p>"Hooverville," Martha asked walking along the dirt path. "Named after Herbert Hover," I prompted whilst taking a gander at my lush green surroundings. Martha's withering gaze had not been lost to me, but I ignored it because of more important issues. Like remembering to take a weekend getaway to Central park once I had gotten back home, see if I could spot the differences. It'll be like playing the game '<em>five things wrong with this picture<em>'. Except it'd have involved time travel. Was I lame because I thought that'd be fun? Probably.

The Doctor beamed in my direction. "Correct. It looks like someone paid attention in class," his comment earned me a scowl from our female friend as he continued on, "Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came to power a year ago. Up till then New York was a boom town, the Roaring Twenties, and then…"

He trailed off giving Martha or I a chance to answer. Martha jumped on it before me, eager to gain praise. I felt upset that she was trying to one up me on something that was non existent. I thought we were past he petty jealousy and back to being friends, I liked being friends.

"The great depression-," Martha's voice overtook mine, "The Wall Street Crash, yeah? When was that, 1929?"

She looked expectantly, almost dancing in victory, as his head nodded in approval, "Yeah. Whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. Suddenly the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. So they ended up here in Central Park."

Martha eyes widened in shocked, "What? They actually live in the park? In the middle of the city?"

Her question was pretty much answered when we came upon the ramshackle town. Hastily made structures were clustered in one large area, almost stack on top of one another; made from materials that were easy to come by like scraps of nothing left haphazardly on the road, giving some form of shelter. For those unfortunate enough not to find materials the had made cloth tents, giving limited elemental protection. People were gathered around empty drums sparked with ever burning fires. Faces gaunt with a deep pain built on sorrow and hopelessness. They huddled, un-showered and flea bitten, together as it was the only thing left in their control. Eyes so full of ghosts and emptiness I had to turn away, their pain was so large it threaten to consume even me. It was an easy thing to read in a book, but it was another thing entirely to witness it first hand. Martha looked as if she were ready to cry at any moment.

"Ordinary people. Lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go," the Doctor said while we entered the makeshift village, looking upon the people sorrowfully. No one paid us any heed as newcomers were common place.

"There are still places like this during my time, but they're out of sight so people don't even realize they exist. If you were to ever take a stroll into the abandoned network of tunnels underneath New York you'd find fringe societies running all over them," I stated while narrowly avoiding stepping on a sleeping mans hand. Martha scoffed, "If that were true we would have heard about it."

"Then, by that logic, my friends don't exist because you haven't heard of them. Just because it's not advertise doesn't necessarily mean it's not true."

Martha looked surprised that I quipped a reply back. I guessed she thought that I'd just sit back and take her petty abuse. I mean, I could let somethings slide, but there was no reason for her to behave in the manner she had been earlier. I was surprised the Doctor hadn't picked up on it. Or maybe he just wanted to stay out of it.

"You thievin' lowlife!"

A group of people crowded ahead of us as some sort of commotion took place. An older african man stepped out of his tent heading towards where I assumed the fighting was. Two men were trying to grapple each other while the older man rushed over and kept them at arms length of the other. He rounded on the middle aged white man, "Now think real careful before you lie to me."

The man looked down ashamed, "I'm starvin', Solomon."

Solomon held his hand out towards him expectantly. The man reluctantly reached into his dirty coat, pulling out a loaf of bread, and handed it begrudgingly to him. The man on the other side tightened his jaw in smug satisfaction. "We're all starvin'," Solomon stated, breaking the loaf in half, "We all got families somewhere."

He gave each of the men a piece. The man, who I assumed owned it originally, appeared appalled and upset by the decision. I'd probably be upset to, but that was only because I didn't like to share my food. You came near my food I would likely bite you! Just ask Hunter. "No stealin' and no fightin'. You know the rules," he pointed at both men before addressing the growing crowd, "Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got."

Everyone dispersed as the momentary _entertainment _had stopped and they wandered sluggishly back to tents and barrels. The Doctor nudged Martha and I along. "Come on."

He walked up to Solomon and stood before him. "I suppose that makes you the boss around here."

The man in question assessed us, trying to figure each of us out, realizing from the state of our cloths we were new. "And, uh, who might you be?"

"He's the Doctor. I'm Martha," she hesitated for a second, giving me a sideways glance, before continuing, "and she's Echo."

I was guessing what ever crawled up her butt decided to finally leave. Thank god! I didn't appreciate unnecessary drama. I managed to avoid it during high school and through my adult life I didn't believe I needed to remedy that. Solomon scoffed sarcastically, "A doctor. Well, we got, uh, stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighborhood gets classier by the day."

I smirked at that. I could appreciate a person who tried to lighten a bad situation. Made life much more bearable. Moving to a fire pit Solomon warmed his hands by a spit holding a pot. "How many people live here," Martha asked taking a gander around. "At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society, black, white, all the same. All starving," he laughed at that, "So you're welcome. The three of you. But tell me, Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me," he pointed up to Empire State Building high in the distance, "That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, and we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"

Cheap labour probably. Though, I did know for a fact that it had been built due to a competition to see who could create the tallest building. It had won by the way. Well, for a while. Not that I'd say any of that out loud. When you had nothing, something like that didn't matter. Just pissed you off more. And understandably so. When you're at the bottom and have nothing you have left you had a right to be angry at the world, just not a right to kill it. That wasn't cool. Solomon walked off leaving us by the crackling fire, shoulders heavy with an unforeseen weight as he pushed into a tent.

I pursed my lips moving them side to side in thought at his retreating form. I knew five people had died in it's construction, but it wouldn't explain why people from Hooverville went missing. A serial killer perhaps? No, I most likely would have heard of that in history class. Wouldn't I? Of course, the Doctor had said that time was always in flux. So maybe I had, but hadn't yet. I tried thinking real hard hoping the information would present itself. It didn't. So I took a guess that the disappearances had to do with something alien. It was the only plausible explanation. After all, it'd be only thing that never saw the light of day in a history book. Shame. It'd be quite a read.

The Doctor glanced at me with an unreadable expression on his face. One he'd given me a few other times when he thought I hadn't been looking. "What's on your mind slim?"

His face suddenly changed to comically surprised at my question, "Slim?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "It's slang. Kinda like dude, brohiem, or man, except it also refers to the fact your skinny."

He paused. Thinking. Casting me that unfathomable look once more before resuming his normal easy going countenance, "Oh, timelord things that's all."

Again, I shrugged, not upset by his lack of answer, "Okie-dokie."

I didn't see much point in asking him to divulge anything more on the subject as anything timelord would involve a higher understanding of applied learning that I clearly didn't have. Plus, I believed that was code for '_I don't want to talk about it_'. I was starting to get better and better at deciphering social cues. Man, by the time I would return home I'd be like Lightman from my favorite TV show '_lie to me_'. I wished they had a new season but I believe they had been canceled. Just like my favorite show '_The Finder_'. Worst season ending ever as there wouldn't be a new one. There had been no character resolution. I had loved that show! Martha spoke up, saving me from the endless circle of my thoughts, "Do you think Solomon might know anything about the people gone missing?"

"Let's find out," the Doctor pondered catching up to him. Solomon poured some coffee into a fire just as we reached him. "So…men are going missing. Is this true?"

The Doctor pulled out the news article from his brown coat. Solomon took it from his outstretched hand and looked it over, "It's true all right."

He motioned for us to follow him back into his tent. I was guessing it was the one given to him from the war as it appeared military grade. "But what does missing mean? Men must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register," the Doctor questioned. Solomon sat down his a cot motioning for us to do the same, "C'mon in."

Martha and I plopped ourselves onto the wooden crate across from him as the Doctor seated himself right next to the man. Solomon wearily took off his cowboy hat, the hard lines of aging creased even more with a solemn look, "This is different."

I pulled my knees up and tucked them underneath my chin, peering over them to the upset man. "How?"

"And in what way," Martha added, shifting on the wood, trying to get comfortable. Solomon sighed, "Someone takes them. At night. We hear something. Someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanish into thin air."

"And you're sure someone's taking them?"

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."

I nodded understanding the sentiment. One I knew only to well as I clutched my bag to my legs. "Have you been to the police," Martha asked unwittingly. I scoffed, "The police don't care. To them it's good news."

Solomon nodded, "True. We tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."

The Doctor rubbed his ear in thought, not liking how everyone had given up on those people, writing them off because they were poor, "So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?"

A young man, roughly eight teen, burst into the tent, sticking his head inside. He resembled the actor who had played the newest remake of the spiderman. Odd, maybe he was an ancestor? "Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here."

Solomon stood up and we did the same, following him out. There was a crowd of people gathered around three men. Those three men dressed like the old school gangsters that ran New York back in the day. Of course, currently being back in the day, it was altogether plausible that they were gangsters. Their leader, I was assuming, stood on top of a crate to address the crowd. He looked out of place before the unclean faces surrounding him. Mr. Diagoras I presumed spoke up, "I need men. Volunteers. I got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."

The boy who had come to retrieve us shouted out, "Yeah. What's the money?"

"A dollar a day."

Everyone started grumbling with complaints, shaking there heads with disbelief. I was guessing that wasn't enough to get a healthy supply of volunteers, but no one made a move to leave yet so they were at least considering it. Solomon perked up, asking the question the rest of the crowd was to scared to voice, "What's the work?"

"A little trip down the sewers," Mr. Diagoras smiled oily, "Got a tunnel that collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"

The group laughed sarcastically. Apparently, not even they were desperate enough to take on a job like that. A small portion began to trickle out deeming the job a waste and decided the man wasn't worth their time. He wasn't worth mine either, but that's because he just didn't jibe right with me. He was just a little to slick for my liking. Solomon dismissed him, "A dollar a day? That's slave wage. Men don't always come back up, do they?"

Diagoras on his part shrugged uncaringly at the sentiment not even bothering to assuage his concerns, "Accidents happen."

"What do you mean? What sort of accidents," the Doctor inquired scanning the man wit intellectual scrutiny. "You don't need the work? That's fine. Anybody else," Diagoras shouted. The Doctor raised his hand and the man sneered, "Enough with the questions!"

"Oh, n-n-no. I'm volunteering. I'll go."

Martha and I shared a look, silently communicating our dislike of what was about to be done. Together we raised our hands glaring at the Doctor. For his part he just smiled at us amused. Martha spoke low enough that only the three of us could have heard her, "We'll kill you for this."

Two more people reluctantly did the same. It was Solomon and the kid from earlier. Diagoras surveyed about for anymore volunteers, but upon seeing no one else was about to jump at the chance, he jumped down from his perch. "Alright you lot, follow me."

And so we did, two of us were less inclined though. Martha and I didn't have a particular fondness to route around in the sewers. The boy next to me caught my attention as he extended his hand outwards, "Hi. The names Frank."

Reaching out I shook the offered apendage, "Echo. Nice to meet you."

* * *

><p>"Turn left. Go about half a mile. Follow Tunnel 273. Fall's right ahead of you. You can't miss it."<p>

Following Diagoras line of sight down the old winding archaic tunnels I squinted to adjust my eyes to the limited lighting. A rat scuttled by letting out a high pitch squeal at the human intruders. Water dripped haphazardly onto the floor, slick with a thin layer of sludge on the stone make-up. I was trying desperately not to think about what I might be stepping in as the smell was beginning to cause my eyes to water. Disgusting. Luckily in about three minutes my survival instincts would kick in, stopping me from noticing the putrid smell. Thank you billions of years of evolution for making that possible. For without it I'd still be goop in a pond.

"And when do we get our dollar," Frank asked turning on his flash light. I pulled my LED from out of my bag doing the same. Well, I say _my_ LED, but we all knew I had pilfered it from a school supply closet. It was not my fault there was no school to bring it back to. Diagoras eyed my device suspiciously before returning his attention back to Frank, "When you come back up."

The Doctor watched the man warily, something shifty about the smile trying to curl it's way onto his face, "And if we don't come back up?"

"Then I got no one to pay."

Asshole. It didn't matter to him, we were just a number on a pie chart of acceptable losses that lined his pocket with cash. The only thing he cared about was if he lost that money. Jerk. Solomon must have been thinking along the same line as his face contorted in anger, "We'll be back."

Martha glanced at him, "Let's hope so."

Turning away from the corporate monster we made our way down the tunnel leaving the Doctor behind. He caught up to us a minute later. "We just gotta stick together. It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here," Frank awed at the immensity of the complex. He was right. The place looked like the hallways to some ancient underground labyrinth. Although in a way I supposed it was.

Martha clutched her jacket together trying to fend off the damp cold. Not that I minded much. I preferred the cold to the heat. "So what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you," Martha asked trying to take her mind off the fact we were in a sewer. Frank rolled his eyes, "Oh, you could talk. No, no, I'm from Tennessee, born and bred."

"So how come you're here?"

Frank appeared sad at the query, but put on a brave facade. Not surprising, people were like that during this time. They had to be. "Uh, my daddy died. Mama…couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself, so put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me. From all over; Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas…Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you? You're a long way from home."

"Yeah," Martha nodded with a mysterious smile, "I'm just a hitcher too."

"What about you?"

I was a little surprised he even noticed me behind them. I just assumed I was invisible per usual. Not that I minded. I was one of those people who was comfortable hanging out with someone yet not uttering a single word to them. I shrugged, "Same. I'm up from Massachusetts."

He smiled, "You both stick with me, you'll be all right."

"So this Diagoras bloke," the Doctor piped in, "who is he then?"

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now it seems like he's running most of Manhattan," Solomon answered, frustration painted his features. The conversation bouncing down the tunnels eerily. "How did he manage that, then?"

"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way 'round."

The Doctor stopped abruptly causing me to bump into Frank. "Whoa!"

The Doctor shined his light on some weird green blob, glowing on the wet floor. Gross. Martha pushed forward to lean down and get a better look, "Is it radioactive or something?"

We all gathered round as the Doctor crouched down to inspect it, pulling on a sharp pair of glasses. His sexy specs. Oh, Never mind. Lets not go there. Bad train of thoughts. Bad. Martha gagged like she was about to retch and covered her mouth. That was why I stood a nice distance from the object. I'd had enough bad smells that day to last me a life time, thank you very much. Martha coughed, "It's gone off, whatever it is."

The Doctor scooped it up bringing it closer to his face to examine it, not bothering to put on some gloves. Martha's scrunched in disgust at the skin to slime contact, "And you've got to pick it up."

He gave it a tentative sniff. "And now your putting it up to your nose," I laughed at the gesture. He sent me a smile before returning to the object at hand and waved Martha closer. "Shine your torch through it. Composite organic matter. Martha? Medical opinion?"

She shifted not sure what she was supposed to say, "It's not human. I know that."

"No, it's not," he agreed, pieces of a grim puzzle beginning to form inside his skull.

"Kinda looks like a cross between a brain and a jelly fish," I said, throwing out my two cents. The Doctor smirked at the commentary, but continued with his observations, "And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in and I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So why did Mr Diagoras send us down here?"

They stood up as we all flashed our lights around to see if we could spot something he'd missed. Nope, no tunnel collapse. The atmosphere changed at the realization. Something smelled and I didn't think it was the sewage. Man, I should be a novelist for detective stories. I had the cheesy punch lines all set. Martha gazed upwards towards the bricked arched ceiling, "So where are we now? What's above us?"

The Doctor flashed his light up, "Well…we're right underneath Manhattan."

Frank sighed moving forward, not ready to believe there was danger, "Might as well keep goin'. Could be up ahead aways. Maybe we missed it."

"Well, come on then. We ain't gonna get much done standin' round," Solomon stated as he took head of the pack. Leading us further into the dark winding labyrinth. The Doctor went to place the green blob into his pocket but I quickly stopped him. Why ruin a nice coat? "Doctor wait. Don't put that into your pocket. Here," I rummaged through one of the back sleeves of my bag pulling out a ziplock baggie, "this should hopefully keep it from staining your coat."

He raise one eyebrow, surprised that I seemed to have something for every occasion, and plopped it in. Sealing it up he safely placed it into his jacket and eyed my satchel. "Is your bag bigger on the inside by chance?"

"No. I wish. I just happen to be prepared," I said while holding in a laugh, "But what about you? If I recall, quite a ridiculous amount of items were pulled from your coat pocket when looking for a paper bag. I felt like I was watching a Loony Toons cartoon."

He grinned cheekily patting his pockets, "I do like things bigger on the inside."

Martha perked up at his statement giggling out a comment, "So are your trousers bigger on the inside too?"

The Doctor turned at her perplex, not understanding the innuendo she was referring to, "Yes. Of course. It'd be weird if they weren't."

I tried to choke down my own laughter as Martha tried the same. He appeared even more confused, "What?"

We both turned to each other and let out the peal of laughter we'd been holding. "What? What did I say?"

Attempting to settle down I waved him off, "If you don't get it it's probably for the best."

His eyebrow furrowed together as he racked through that big brain of his striving to figure out what had just transpired. Martha and I shared a knowing smile between each other. I missed having friends to make dirty jokes with. Sexual innuendoes were always funny. A secret camaraderie transpired between us and whatever transgression I had committed was completely forgiven. He pouted realizing we weren't going to explain, which just sent us quietly giggling into our hands. Holy crap I'd just giggled. Note to self, never do that again.

Solomon threw his hands into the air in frustration as we came to another intersection, "We're way beyond half a mile. There's no collapse, nothing."

"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying," Martha questioned, all prior fun dissolved. The Doctor frowned, "Looks like it."

Frank appeared confused, not quite following the logic, "So why did he want people to come down here?"

I groaned slouching forward, "It's a trap."

The Doctor pivoted towards us, thinking along the same lines as I was. "Solomon, I think it's time you took these three back. I'll be much quicker on my own."

I rolled my eyes. Like we were just gonna let him rush head first, alone, with no back up. Nope. Sorry. Friendship didn't work like that. Before anyone could protest to his demands a loud squealing reverberated down the tunnels. Bouncing sound from every direction. I spun around with the rest of the group trying to pinpoint which direction it had come from. "Knew it," I moaned in complaint, "Trap."

Solomon squeezed his flashlight tightly, his whole body prepared to fight, "What the hell was that?"

"Hello," Frank shouted into the darkness, naively assuming whatever made the noise was friendly. Martha freaked as he gave away our position, "Shh!"

"Frank," Solomon reprimanded quietly, agreeing with her. But the boy wasn't having that, to virtuous for his own good, "What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared, half-mad down here on your own."

The Doctor paused, watching him with renewed interest, "Do you think they're still alive?"

"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost."

More squealing erupted from the tunnels, getting closer and closer. A wild pig? Maybe. Solomon shuddered, "I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that."

The Doctor started walking down one of the tunnels. "Doctor where are you going," I asked. I went to follow after him, but Martha grabbed my sleeve for comfort, so I stayed put. "Sounds like there's more than one of 'em," Frank suggested as the noises escalated. The Doctor continued moving away from us straining an ear to pin point the sound. He ushered us over, "This way."

Solomon shined his light down a different tunnel. "No, that way," he argued. Martha tightened her grip, pulling me closer to her. Even more so when her light caught something in the dark. It shined, illuminating, a figure in the distance, huddle to the floor. She gulped, whispering urgently. "Doctor…"

Instantly the men rallied around us, creating a protective half circle between us and the person. Solomon cautiously called out to it, "Who are you?"

However it didn't respond. Frank resolved to giving it a go as he compassionately wandered towards them, "Are you lost? Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost…," he trailed off as the Doctor signaled for him to take a step back. "It's all right, Frank. Just stay back. Let me have a look," he reasoned, not wanting to put him in danger and started approaching the figure, "He's got a point, though. My mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own."

It squealed in fright the closer he approached so he stopped when he was about halfway. "We know the way out. Daylight. If you want to come with us," He squatted so that they were eye level, shining the light over on the huddled figure, uncovering a pig man. He studied him sadly, "Oh, but what are you?"

Solomon gasped in disbelief, "Is, uh, that some kind of carnival mask?"

"No, it's real," he assured, scanned the pig-man, it's eyes looked so lost and frightened. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Now, who did this to you?"

Shadows began form on the wall above them, growing as they advanced towards the two. The outlines eventually took shape, making clear the visage of pig men marching down the tunnel. Martha summoned him back, "Doctor, I think you'd better get back here."

"It look like he has friends," I added as pig-men filled the opposite end of the tunnel, "and I don't think they're friendly."

The Doctor stood back up coming face to snout with the creatures, slowly starting to back up. Martha let go of my arm and took a few steps toward him, "Doctor!"

"Actually," he eyed the creatures movements, "…good point."

"They're following you."

He backed into the group as we started slowly rounding the corner in reverse. Eyes trained on the snarling squeeling pig-men. "Yeah, I noticed that, thanks. Well then, Echo, Martha, Frank, Solomon…"

"What," she asked. Oh, I knew that face. I didn't like that face. That face could only mean one thing! "Um, basically," he paused before shouting, "…run!"

"I knew it," I hollered while sprinting down the corridors for my life, somehow managing to stay ahead of everyone else. Fear did that to people. Well, at least till we ended up at an intersection and I had to stop. Martha screamed in fear, "Where are we going?"

"This way," the Doctor shouted turning right. Quickly I raced after him, fear of being killed by pig-men causing me to fully push past him. Even he was surprised at my sudden dexterity. Getting killed by pig men was not on my bucket list! We passed another intersection, I didn't even bother to look around just kept heading forward, when the Doctor shouted from behind me, "There's a ladder!"

Realizing I'd gone to far and passed the exit I attempted to turn around but, with the slick floor and my inertia, I fell hard on my side. Skidding across the floor. If this wasn't a life or death situation I would have been really grossed out right about then. "Fuck," I shouted in pain. Damn that hurt. "Echo," the Doctor hollered, "c'mon!"

Hurriedly I scrambled to my feet, slipping on the slime as I tried to gain friction, and ignored the soon to be bruise burning along my side. "I'm coming!"

The Doctor seeing me head over ran back into the access-way, disappearing from sight. I rushed over to join the group only forced to stop short as the pig men blocked the tunnel and my access. I cursed under my breath, "Shit!"

"Echo!"

"I'm sorry Doctor," I called out helplessly as the slowly advanced, "I'll have to find another exit," I yelled out. I could hear him screaming after me, shouting for the others to let him go, but I couldn't linger there any longer or I'd be killed. So, in a burst of adrenaline, I raced down another tunnel, praying I didn't hit a dead end. Their hurried hooves trampled after me. Tunnel after tunnel I kept running. Faster and faster. Looking for a stairway, or an exit, anything to make my escape from, but I came up with zilch. As I started to slow down I could no longer hear the heavy footsteps of anyone chasing after me. A plus if I ever heard one. Though I had no idea how long I'd been racing around that rat maze, but my lungs were on fire. Man, if that wasn't a wake up call to get a gym membership I didn't know what was.

* * *

><p>It'd been a good two hours since I'd last clapped eyes on the others and I had officially excepted that I was lost. Every tunnel was beginning to appear the same that for all I knew I was in the very bowels of the complex. I wandered around, staggering from lack of sleep and pain that had set in when my adrenaline had worn off. And the worst part was I had no idea what had happened to the others, if they were safe, dead, or trying to find me. The upside! I hadn't run into any pig-men. So silver lining and all. As I sluggishly rounded another corner I stopped in my tracks as I heard voices echoing from ahead. I sighed with relief. They must have come back for me. I almost ran over till I got a clearer picture of the voices. Cautiously I edged closer another corner, flattening myself against the wall. "They have ascended. Return to base."<p>

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at the odd vocals. Were those...robotic voices? "Request information. What is your opinion of Dalek Sec?"

That word. That was a word the Doctor had told us about. The one that had given me a head ache while he had retold the tale about his people. Why was someone using that word. "Request information. What is your opinion of Dalek Sec?"

There it was again! Why do they keep using that awful word. "We were created to follow him," it stated. I crept closer only to quickly duck into a recess in the wall, hiding myself from view, as three pig men passed by. I leaned my head against the wall in relief when they hadn't spotted me. "But you have…doubts."

I heard a weird mechanical noise so curiously, as the pig-men hadn't attacked whatever was emitting the sound, I slowly left my hide-out and poked my head around the corner. My vision instantaneously flared. "Affirmative."

I almost doubled over as a bombardment of images cut through my mind like a razor blade. I clutched my head in pain, trying to make sense of them. Only one word kept popping up. That same awful word. Dalek. Those metal tin cans screamed in my brain. God! My head. Every bone in my body screamed at me to run! To get as far away from that word as possible. And so I did, quickly backing up. Or, I would have, had I not bumped into anything solid. Or anyone. Arms roughly grabbed me, bitting into my flesh, as the whatever was behind me squealed into my ear. The only clue I needed to know I was done for. _No. No. No. No!_

I struggled to get loose, to gain my freedom, to save myself. "No! Let me go!"

I jabbed my elbow right into it's gut, causing the creature to grunt in pain and release me. I was only able to run forward a couple of paces before another seized my left arm. I howled in pain as I was wrenched backward. "Gah!"

Tears started to form, but I refused to let them spill as the pig-man dug deeper into my side. Another grabbed hold of me, to keep me in place as the two Daleks rolled around the corner. The lights on their heads blared as the shrilly spoke, "Silence! Silence!"

"Bring the prisoner back to the transgenic laboratory," the other one screech, "Obey. Obey."

I flailed about trying to get free, screaming every obscenity I could muster fourth from the pain muddled brain screaming at me. But it did me no good. I'd been captured. And there I was trying not to end up the damsel in distress. Man, I'm was such a cliche. If I was lucky, life would follow that plot line and the Doctor would rescue me just in the nick of time. If I was lucky.

* * *

><p>Please review :) it lets me know people are reading my story. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, it can even be just a :)<p>

**NEXT EPISODE:** EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS


	7. Evolution of the Daleks

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

BUM BUM BUM... and the results are in! Her species is finally revealed in this chapter :) enjoy. Ps. I'm sorry if Echo feels like a weaking in this chapter but there is a reason._ Also I shall now thank those who reviewed last chapter. Which I shall now be doing every chapter after this. :) btw they're in no particular order._

**aandm20: **thanx. I'm glad you liked her. :)

**TheGirlWhoWaited: **I finished this before my other story chapter first because of your review. and I'm now working on the other one. How can I say no to a virtual Benedict Cumberbatch plushie :P ps. curse you for finding my one true weakness now I have to update :) lol

**fanfreak4ever: **I liked your idea, that would have been cool. But the votes are in. You're half right though. :)

**Just another Time Lord: **Thanks for reviewing! You shall now find out her fate! lol. pun intended :) I'm glad you love it.

* * *

><p>Empty. That was what I had felt as they'd hauled me down through the winding tunnel system. My feet dragged underneath me across the stone floor as I'd long since stopped walking. Why bother making it any easier for them. However I felt oddly hollowed out. It was weird. My mind was racing so fast yet, I wasn't thinking a single thought. The pain that once filled my head had long since segued into a dull throbbing. My structure was numb to the cold and discomfort. It was all very out of body. Like everything was happening to someone else. If only.<p>

Those images, that had flashed across my vision, had been so real, as if I had experienced them first hand. But, I knew that couldn't be true. There was so much fire and pain. Destruction. Screaming. Carnage raining from above. It was all so jumbled the only thing I could truly make out was the one thing that had caused the episode. Daleks. I had no idea, because they looked so funny, but for some reason I was afraid of them. Like pee your pants afraid. Which thankfully I hadn't done. Score one for my dignity. I tried not to laugh as hysteria started to bubble up.

I had no idea where they were taking me, but I could only speculate it wouldn't be good. My stomach did that weird flip floppy thing from this morning as we approached the end of the tunnel systems. A large ominous door opened. Oh god, that was it! For a moment I was blinded by the artificial light, to long had I been wandering in the darkness. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the new surroundings I had immediately wished they hadn't._ Oh hells bells._

A great big laboratory, that is where I found myself. Just what I needed another one of those. It had high ceilings with concrete pillars scattered about, keeping the structure from collapsing under the weight of the earth. There were four large bronze circular machines with screens showcasing all sorts of strange readings I didn't understand. However what really caught my attention was the metal slab with straps on my right, wires, needles, and tubes hung from above it. Great I was going to die and I hardly lived.

My piggy captors let out a sequence of squeals to alert their masters. AS I turned to face my executioners my vision flared once again, my head proceeding to feel as if it were splitting open right down the middle. The Dalek turned its eye stalk in my direction and approached, "One of the prisoners has been re-captured."

Some weird mutant thing watched from across the room, it's one cyclops eye narrowing at my visage. It wore a suit like a person, one that seemed similar to me but I couldn't quite place it, but it's face resembled a purple wormy brainy octopus. "No. This one is new. Examine it for selection," Cyclops absolved, lacing it's three thick finger with the others behind it's back. Suddenly the Dalek in front of me pushed some weird plunger into my face. I struggled to get away, my instincts screaming to run. "Get the hell away from me! Let me go!"

"Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves," it paused before letting out a shriek, "Too much brain activity. Scan inconclusive."

"What! That's not possible. Initiate a bio scan, " Cyclops ground out from his station at the front of the room. The Dalek moved it's plunger ever closer, sending my mind into further agony, as it's eyestalk zoomed in. "Scanning. Scanning. Triple helix detected. Time Lord! Time Lord! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"No," Cyclops demanded his voice booming across the room. The Dalek halted, stopping whatever it was about preform with the whisk attached to it's chassis. "Keep her alive," Cyclops sneered, "We may need to use her. The Doctor is weak and will have no choice but to come for the female. In the mean time, pig slaves, tie her up."

I struggled at the notion, even harder at the excessive man handling. Not that I really noticed as, was running on default as I was having a hard time processing what I'd just heard. That couldn't be right. No. That was just-no. The Doctor must have rubbed off on me from earlier was all. Sort of like what he had done with Martha to confuse the Judoon. Yeah that was it! Because I had fallen into him earlier, maybe I had his skin or hair particles on me. Yes, that made perfect sense. Much more plausible. Granted I was an alien, but timelord! Oh, come on. That was just ridiculous. I think I would remember something that important. Although I was a toddler...no! I'm not. I mean I'm not crazy smart like the Doctor so obviously they were mistaken. Clear and simple. Yep. One hundred percent. Not. A. Time. Lord.

As I was sitting against one of the concrete pillars two pig slaves on either side of me I made sure to avoid looking anywhere near the Dalek's. The less I saw them, the less my head hurt. Though I found it particularly hard when a laser screen popped up mid-air ahead of them. "Establish visual contact."

My eyes widened as I put together what was about to happen at the video before me. My head started buzzing like a million angry hornets. An image of Hooverville filled the screen. "Commence the attack."

I jolted forward in my binds, pulled back forcefully by the pig-men,"You can't!"

Cyclops turned to sneer at me briefly, "Oh, but I can. Bear witness to the beginning of the new stronger Dalek empire."

I jumped at each explosion they created, heart pumping faster with every victim, sending fourth more horrific images. Each one becoming more and more sharper with the raging fires and screaming. Relieving a moment I had no context to, a horrific instant in time. I was watching two places dying, one in front of me, the other in my mind. "The humans will surrender," screeched the Dalek soldier over the transmission. A man step fourth from the crowd and the Dalek eye zoomed the transmission onto them. I almost cried in relief when I recognized who it was. "Leave them alone! They've done nothing to you!"

"We have located the Doctor!"

Solomon melded out of the group walking to the front, gun in hand, determination chiseled across his features. The Doctor halted him for his own good, "No, Solomon. Stay back."

He bristled but still talked, "I'm told that I'm addressin' the Daleks, is that right?"

Cyclops folded his arms behind his back, "Observe humanity. For all their faults they have…such courage."

Now that was odd. For a bad guy he sure seemed in awe of what he hated. Oh. OH! He was Dalek Sec! It all made a little more sense. He was the one the others were plotting against, because he wasn't acting very...Dalek. Weird how I connected that so easily.

Solomon gazed up at the Dalek that must be flying above him, "From what I hear, you're outcasts, too"

"Solomon, don't!"

"Doctor, this is my township, you will respect my authority."

Sec watched the exchange of words with curiosity.

"Just let me try." I watched as Solomon pushed past the Doctor striding closer the the Daleks. The Doctor shook his head in disappointment, but did as he was asked, letting the man try. Solomon cleared his throat. "Daleks…ain't we all the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin" he asked while placing his gun on the ground in a show of peace, "Cause, see, I've just discovered this past day, God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh, yeah. Terrifies me. Right down to the bone. But it's got to give me hope…hope that maybe together we can make a better tomorrow. So I…I beg you now if you have any compassion in your hearts then you'll meet with us and stop this fight. Well…what do you say?"

There was a collective pause, luring everyone into a false sense of victory. Then, the scariest words in existence screeched into the room, "Exterminate!"

A beam fired into Solomon, his body flashed like an x-ray, before convulsing to the ground. "No," I screamed trying to get up, but I was shoved down by the pig slaves. The Hooverville inhabitants screamed running and huddling in panic, trying to hide. I was surprised when Sec reacted as well, gasping in shock. It was something the other Dalek took notice of, but didn't do anything about. I almost cried as Frank attempted to rouse Solomon awake. "No! Solomon!"

I heard Martha shouting in the background, "They killed him. They just shot him on the spot."

"Daleks!"

The camera homed in on the Doctor striding forward, arms open wide in anger, "All right, so it's my turn! Then kill me! Kill me if it'll stop you attacking these people!"

The Dalek almost appeared excited by the possibility. "I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy."

"Then do it! Do it! Just do it," he raged beating on his chest, "Do it!"

"Extermin—," Sec cut it off, "Stop! I command you. Stop."

"I do not understand. It is the Doctor."

"But I want him alive."

"The urge to kill is too strong."

"I have decided the Doctor must live and you will obey me."

"I…obey."

The Doctor was definitely confused, as was I, "What's going on?"

"Bring him to me. Tell him we have his female if he resists," Sec ordered.

"You will follow," the Dalek ordered. People looked at it distrustfully.

"No! You can't go," Martha yelled. The Doctor shook his head, "I've got to go. The Daleks just changed their minds. Daleks never change their minds."

"But what about us?"

He took one last glance behind him before facing the danger ahead. "One condition! If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?"

Sec nodded, "Obey the Doctor."

"The humans will be spared. Doctor…follow."

I leaned my head back, sighing in relief as I finally let my eyes close. I mouthed a silent '_thank you_' to whatever higher power may exist. The Dalek standing next to Sec swiveled his attentions onto him, calculating his future actions. "You saved the Doctor. Why?"

"He's…a genius and we can use him," Sec stated making up an excuse, "The future of the Daleks might well depend on the Doctor."

* * *

><p>I could hear them approach. That awful mechanical noise followed by the sound of red converse hitting the concrete angrily. The doors I had previously entered slammed open and I watched the Doctor storm in, rage painting his features. He rushed up to Sec, a whirl wind of fury and wrath. "Those people were defenseless! You only wanted me, but no, that wasn't enough for you! You had to start killing 'cause that's the only thing a Dalek's good for!"<p>

"The deaths," Sec paused turning around to face the other man's ire, "…were wrong."

A small silence ushered throughout the room as those words rang out. The Doctor looked genuinely shocked, "I'm sorry?"

Sec actually appeared remorseful, "That man, their leader Solomon, he showed courage."

"And that's good?"

"That's excellent."

"Is it me or are you just becoming a little bit more human?"

"You two are the last of your kind and now I am the first of mine."

"Two," the Doctor froze, blood draining from his face, "What do you mean two?"

Sec motioned over towards me, still tied on the floor, "The female of course."

The Doctor turned ever so slowly toward me, for the first time having entered the room, not having realized anyone else was attending the party. His face shifted with a myriad of emotions. He went from happy, to relieved, as well as angry and confused, to doubtful, a little hopeful and then back to relieved. He shook his head with doubt. "No. No. She's not timelord. I would have known-I would have-... Well, she's not human either but…," he paused trying to figure out what to address first. I watched as that unreadable look engulfed him once again. He paused examining my persons from afar, taking in my state of well-being, before he cautiously rounded on Sec, all the while discreetly placing himself between me and them. Hastily he changed the subject, directing it away from the one he truly wished to pursue first. "What do you want me for?"

"We tried everything to survive when we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age," Sec growled walking over to on of his machines, "First we tried growing new Dalek embryos but their flesh was too weak."

"Yeah, I found one of your experiments. Just left to die out there in the dark."

Sec nodded his head, "It forced us to conclude what is the greatest resource of this planet—its people."

Lifting up an arm he pushed a giant switch up on the wall. It sent power to the ceiling above, causing it to light up. The sudden lumination revealed hundreds of human bodies lying naked shrouded in blue plastic covers, suspended in rows above. He flicked another switch that gently lowered them down. Sec actually appeared ashamed at his handiwork. As he should be! They were people once, he had no right! "We stole them. We stole human beings for our purpose. Look…inside."

The Doctor walked up and pulled the sheet away. "This," Sec motioned to the cold person, "…is the extent of the Final Experiment."

"Is he dead," The Doctor asked.

"Near death with his mind wiped ready to be filled with new ideas."

"Dalek ideas," The Time Lord added with spite. "The _Human_-Dalek race," Sec corrected.

"All of these people," the Doctor gazed sadly above him, "How many?"

"We have caverns beyond this storing more than a thousand."

"Is there any way to restore them? Make them human again?"

"Everything they were has been lost."

"So they're like shells. You've got empty human beings ready to be converted. That's going to take a hell of a lot of power. This planet hasn't even split the atom yet. How're you gonna do it?"

Sec motioned towards a honey combed looking tower, "I'll show you."

"Alright. But first-," He waltzed over to my direction, leaning down to undo my bindings. I smiled, but slightly winced when his fingers grazed my side, "And here I thought I'd be making this into a new fashion accessory. Glad to know it won't be featured as the next spring fling."

If he had found my comment funny he didn't show it. His face was an impassive, I wondered what was going on in that big brain of his. I gulped when again my eyes ended up being sucked into the swirling vortex of his. He looked so...well I didn't really know how to describe it. He lifted a hand and placed it on the side of my face. He gazed down searching for some sort of proof. Of what I didn't know. I frowned, "I'm not."

He appeared confused by my admission but didn't pull away. "I'm not a timelord. Sec got it wrong. He had to of got it wrong."

Two Daleks floated past to park themselves near Sec. Instinctively I looked for the noise and grimaced, flinching at my own stupidity when I caught sight of them. Hot pain cut across the mind as snippets of images screamed through. The Doctor jolted back as if his hand had been burned. He turned to gaze at me with wide eyes of shocked. What had that been about?

"Doctor," Sec called him over, destroying the strange atmosphere that had encircled the two of us. He looked back and fourth between his two choices before he warily got up, pulling me with him. He cleared his throat walking over, "Right. Show me what you've got."

Sec faced the honey combed wall addressing the Dalek, "Open the conductor plan."

Obeying the creature pushed it's plunger onto a ball in the wall. Another screen popped up with an orange 360 view of the empire state building. The Doctor shoved his hands into his pant pockets, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Empire State Building. We're right underneath that. I worked that out already, thanks. But what, you hijacked the whole building?"

Sec pointed at the map, "We needed an energy conductor."

"What for?," the Doctor asked slightly raising his pitch. Sec paused, "I…am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and human genetic codes and wake each body from its sleep."

The screen model zoomed out to show the earth revolving around the sun. The Doctor examined the readings with interest, "Gamma radiation? What are-Oh, the sun. You're using the sun."

The model showed waves hitting the planet. Sec pointed at the data, "Soon…the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor and when it strikes—," the Doctor jumped in, "The army wakes. I still don't know what you need me for."

The screen disappeared as Sec peered over at the Doctor. "Your genius. Consider a pure Dalek; intelligent but emotionless."

"Removing the emotions makes you stronger," he countered, throwing back the Dalek belief right at his face "That's what your creator thought all those years ago."

"He was wrong."

I felt that if the Doctor had been drinking something at that moment, then he would have spit it across the room in disbelief at the omission. "He was what?"

"It makes us lesser than our enemies. We must return to the flesh. And also…the heart," Sec conveyed. A shiver worked it's way down my spine. Warily, but mostly stupidly, I glance out of the corner of my eye to the Daleks behind me. They turned to each other conspiratorially not at all agreeing with their leaders sentiment. Well, that was more of the vibe they gave off as they didn't have faces to read from. My breath hitched as I had to look away. Another bout of pain exploded behind my eyes. Images expanded to every corner of my mind then imploded as if they had never existed. I was officially never doing that again! Unless of course I thought they were about to zap me...then I'd hit the deck.

"You wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore," the Doctor stated, testing the waters as he still was wary that the other man was telling the truth. Sec nodded, "And that is good."

One of the Daleks could no longer hold in it's disagreement and screeched in protest, "That is incorrect."

"Daleks are supreme," another added, voice blaring across the room. "No, not anymore," Sec interjected, bellowing out the answer. A Dalek pushed forward, eye stalk rotating back and fourth, "But that is our purpose!"

"Then our purpose is wrong," Sec yelled, "Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers on a primitive world. Just four of us left. If we do not change now then we deserve extinction."

"So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek," the Doctor asked in disbelief, finally understanding why he had been brought there. "If…you can help me," Sec inquired, taking on a more polite tone. The Doctor stared gauging the truth of what Sec's words. Could he? After all the things I'd seen them do-no I mean after all the things I've heard of them doing. I tried to shake off the numbing haze that had suddenly crept upon me without my notice. My mind felt like hot molasses. Ignoring it I watched as events unfolded before me.

I barely realized the Doctor had put his hand behind the small of my back to lead me back over to one of the tables Sec had lowered, till we were standing in font of a white sheet. Sec peered down at the long lost soul lying still on the metal slab, "Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours. The new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts."

"But you're the template. I thought they were getting a dose of you," the Doctor said looking upon the cold human's face. Sec placed his hand upon the table, staring down with guilt at the empty shell before him, "I want to change the gene sequence."

The Timelords head head popped up at that, "To make them even more human?"

"Humans are the great survivors," Sec reasoned, "We need that ability."

The Doctor shook his head gesturing to the Daleks behind us having as much faith in them as I had in fate. None. "Hold on a minute. There's no way this lot are gonna let you do it."

"I am their leader," Sec stated as if that was all he needed to implement his plan. Like they would follow his orders no matter what. The Doctor turned to them, "Oh, and that's enough for you, is it?"

"Daleks must follow orders," one of them stated. I don't know which one as I refused to look over at the lot. My head became worse each time I saw one so I was making a conscious effort to look anywhere but a Dalek. Another spoke as well, "Dalek Sec commands, we obey."

"If you don't help me…nothing will change," argued Sec. Doc scoffed finding a problem, "There's no room on Earth for another race of people."

"You have your TARDIS. Take us across the stars. Find us a new home and allow the new Daleks to start again."

"When's that solar flare?"

"Eleven minutes."

The Doctor sighed rechecking our surroundings. A small smile worked it's way on his face as a glimmer of hope burned in his eyes. He licked his bottom lip. That crazy impossible look I'd come accustom to when he pulled off something so brilliantly unimaginable over took him, "Right then. Better get to work."

* * *

><p>Eleven minutes felt like forever. I long since figured out the best place to look was the ceiling. Which was easy enough as I had a nice little chair to sit in. Looked like I had moved up from hostage to guest. Funny how things worked out. The Doctor and Sec had been running all around the lab mixing solutions, creating programs and applying crazy mathematical science to sequences I had no way of understanding. But I wasn't too focused on how dumb that made me feel. No, I was more focused on keeping my breathing even as a fiery sensation had started raging throughout my body, coming in short bursts like contractions. It felt like I had some awful fever. I just wanted to go home and curl up on my hammock and sleep it off or die. Yes. Sleep sounded good right about then. I felt my eyes beginning to droop. My head slowly falling backwards.<p>

"There's no point in chromosomal grafting. It's too erratic. You need to split the genome and force the Dalek-human sequence right into the cortex," the Doctors voice thrust me out of my position. My head snapped back up as I rapidly blinked, trying to stay awake. No, it wasn't the time for sleep. It was a very volatile environment. Not a good place. At any moment something might break that fragile truce. So, staying awake was imperative to my continued existence.

Sec turned to one of the daleks, "We need more chromatin solution."

"The pig slaves have it," one of them answered. I winced upon seeing the creatures. I understood they had no control of what they did as they were mindless drones but they didn't need to be so rough. My sides were still hurting because of them. I watched as they carried two large crates into the room. The Doctor watched them, "These pig slaves, what happens to them in the grand plan?"

Sec shrugged as he mixed chemicals, "Nothing. They're just simple beasts. Their lifespan is limited. None survive beyond a few weeks. Power up the engine feeds."

The Doctor walked over to one of the pig men who resembled more of a human than the others. He began to quietly talk to him and to my surprised the pig man talked back. Interesting. I didn't think they could do that. After a few seconds he put on his glasses and returned to running around tweaking machines and mixing solutions. The room filled with a tense sensation as it came down to the wire. "The line feeds are ready," one of the daleks shouted. The Doctor raced over to a bunch of tubes and extracted the blue solution inside with a thick syringe, "Then it's all systems go."

"The solar flare is imminent. The radiation…will reach Earth in a matter of minutes," Sec warned. "We'll be ready for it," the Doctor pulled out the syringe and inserted it into one of the main feeding tubes for one of the machines, injecting it, "That compound will allow the gene bonds to reconfigure in a brand new pattern. Power up!"

Two of the pig men pulled the large levers in front of them as a sound of electricity zapped around the room. Sec turned to one of his Daleks, "Start…the line feeds."

It moved to one of the machines pushing it's plunger into a socket. Liquid started winding down the tubing above into the ceiling. We all observed it's progress. "There goes the gene solution," the Doctor said. "The life blood," Sec awed as the fluid coursed into the bodies. Instantly a klaxon resounded as red warning lights flashed. I was definitely fully awake then. "What's that," the Doctor asked alarmed. Sec rounded on a Dalek, "What's happening? Is there a malfunction? Answer me!"

I jumped out of the chair realizing something was wrong, ready to run should need be. The Doctor raced over to one of the computers clearly upset as he attempted to rectify whatever was wrong, "No, no, no. The gene feed! They're overriding the gene feed!"

"Impossible. They cannot disobey orders."

A Dalek pushed up to the Doctor, "The Doctor will step away from the controls."

He backed away till he was next to me and latched onto my hand. "Get ready to run," He whispered. I nodded as Sec stepped in front of his Dalek subordinate, "Stop! You will not fire."

"He is an enemy of the Daleks," it reasoned. "And so are you," another added. Their whisk shaped weapons quickly aimed at us. A vision appeared before my eyes, one of the image before me, yet another took it's place of a similar scene except the lab background dissolved into fire and destruction. It kept flashing back and fourth between the two. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the visual over-stimulus.

"I am your commander. I am Dalek Sec."

"You have lost your authority."

"You are no longer a Dalek."

The Doctor gently squeezed my hand, "What have you done with the gene feed?"

"The new bodies will be 100% Dalek."

"No. You can't do this," Sec screamed. "Pig slaves," a Dalek screeched, "restrain Dalek Sec and the Doctor, as well his female."

My eyes shot open when I was grabbed by two hands. I tried muffling my cry when the pig man dug into my injured arm. Sec pushed against his captors, but it was of no use as they circled him off, "Release me. I created you. I am your master!"

The three Daleks turned around towards the computers, "Solar flare approaching."

"Prepare to intercept."

I heard something ping from behind me. "There's the lift," the pig-man holding the Doctor whispered into his ear. "After you."

The Doctor shoved the pig slave holding onto my arms and wrenched me away, dragging me along by my hand with him towards the elevator. "The Doctor is escaping! Stop him! Stop him," one of the Daleks screamed. He pulled out his screwdriver and opened the door pushing us in. He then aimed it at the panel and the doors slid shut, just before the pigs could reach us. The pig guy next to me leaned against the wall clutching his heart. I slid down the back to sit on the floor, curling up into my knees. I took a shaky breath as the pain kept pulsing and fading in my head. I grasp it with one of my arms as if the pressure would make it go away, keep it from bursting. "We've only got minutes before the gamma radiation reaches the Earth," the Doctor informed turning around, "We need to get to the top of the building. Lazlo, Echo, what's wrong?"

"Out of breath. It's nothing. We've escaped them, Doctor. That's all that matters," Lazlo wheezed with a half smile. I pulled myself in tighter as I heard someone kneel in front of me. "Echo?"

"Doctor I'm fine," I muffled out. "Echo you're not fine. You're injured. I need to have a look see."

I didn't move. I didn't want to move. I felt good like this. It didn't hurt so much. I wanted the pain to stop. I could barely think with it. If it weren't for the Doctor pulling me into the elevator I would still be down there in agony. They probably would have killed me too. "Echo. Look at me."

I shook my head. No. It'll hurt. "Echo," he crooned as he gently place his hands on my head. Lightly he moved my face up so that we were now staring at each other. He was so close our noses were almost touching. He examined me, and I mean really examined me, and something a kin to worry flashed through those brown eyes as all that fire and rage instantly died. I watched as his adams apple slowly bobbed, "Echo I want to try something. Similar to what I did with Peter Streete. Just try to relax and close your eyes. It's all going to be ok."

The Doctor leaned his forehead against mine, hands firmly set on the sides of my face. Suddenly, a weird tickly soothing sensation swirled around my brain, as if someone were drawing circles on my skin. But then the images started pouring through, lashing out like wildfire as the earlier sensation moved through it like fingers. I let out a whimper as a Dalek cried out, the image changed to people running in fire flying thru the air as it exploded, a grief stricken man cried and his tears ran down almost as if they were hitting me, then it was so white and so cold. The Doctor gasped reeling back. "Why does it hurt so much," I dug my fingers into my skull trying to work out the pain. I felt a few tears cascade down my face. "I'm so, so sorry," the Doctor pulled me up into a hug. Gently swaying us back and forth talking against my hair, "I promise you, you're going to be fine. I just need you to hang in there till we're back in the TARDIS. Once there I promise to explain everything."

I nodded while clutching his jacket, leaning into him, a sense of ease over came me as I breathed in his scent. Time. He smelt of time. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was startled that I knew what time smelt like. But too much was going on at that moment for me pick up on it. Lazlo shifted beside us, "Is she alright?"

"Oh, she will be," the Doctor smiled as he pulled us apart staring down in wonder. I smiled back. Or at least I attempted to. The door pinged open as a familiar voice shouted out, "Doctor!"

He stepped back into the large room behind him twirling around, his mood visibly lightened, "First floor, perfumery."

Her eye's almost teared up when she caught sight of me, "Echo. You're alive!"

I smiled wanly, "It would appear so."

I was nearly knocked over as a woman rushed over to the pig-man known as Lazlo as she ran to him to embrace. Ok, I see that they had a thing going on. Martha hastily ushered the Doctor and I over to some building plans on an architect table, "We worked it out. We know what they've done. There's Dalekanium on the mast. And it's good to see you two by thy way."

He grinned over at her, "Oh, come here."

He picked her up in a hug and twirled her about. I would have laughed at their antics if I wasn't so busy trying to play catch up with my brain. Abruptly he dropped her when the elevator pinged and closed for a return trip. He ran over to try and stop it. "No, no, no. See, never waste time with a hug," he shouted while trying to sonic the panel by the door, "It's a deadlock seal. I can't stop it."

"Where's it going," Martha asked. "Right to the daleks," I groaned. No. No. No. No more Daleks, I don't want to see them anymore. The Doctor looked around, "And they're not going to leave us alone up here. What's the time?"

Oh, look it's Frank. I felt sorry for not noticing him sooner and all but I was a little bleh at that moment. He glanced at a small clock on the table, "11:15."

"Six minutes to go. I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits," the Doctor informed. The blonde woman scrunched her face at the word gamma, "Gammon radiation? What the heck is that?"

"Something very not good," I replied breathlessly. The Doctor ran toward an opening at the end of the unfinished room. We all raced up next to him, "Oh, that's high. That's very-Blimey, that's high."

I looked over at the sleeping city scape bellow us. Lights dancing in the moon light, cars zoomed past honking horns, laughter of the night life traveled wistfully up on the wind. Totally unaware of the danger going on above. The air whipped around us violently at the height from which we stood. Martha shivered a bit frightened and leaned upon a ladder to look up. "And we've got to go even higher. That's the mast up there, look," she pointed, "There's three pieces of Dalekanium at the base. We've got to get 'em off."

The Doctor shook his head, "That's not 'we'. That's just me."

Martha crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I won't just stand here and watch you."

"Doctor you'll need an extra set of hands up there. Let her go," I interjected, finally thinking rationally. "No, you're gonna have your hands full, anyway," he turned to Martha, "I'm sorry, Martha, but you've got to fight."

He climbed up the ladder onto the scaffolding above, "Watch after Adler for me."

Upon realizing she'd lost the argument she took charge of the situation, "Alright you lot. Find a weapon. You heard the Doctor, we have to fight."

Frank grabbed a sledge hammer near by as Lazlo grabbed one of the bigger hammers. The blonde woman grabbed a wrench as I walked over towards some pipes on the floor. Martha picked one up and handed me another, briefly assessing me, "Are you ok? You look like you're about to pass out, and no offense, but you look awful."

I gazed down at myself and noticed that she was right. I had sludge covered all over my left side and red welts from where the roped was tightly wrapped, my hair was caked in god knew what. Not to mention my clothing was also pretty tattered and worse for wear. Even my bag was looking dirty. Thankfully if wasn't wet, nor had anything been broken in it as I had managed not to land on it earlier. However, if this was how I looked I dreaded to see how my face was faring. Frowning I answered, "I'm fine. Well, when I say fine, I really mean it's not gonna matter much when we have company."

She nodded, "After we've gotten everything squared away I'm gonna have a look at you. Make sure they didn't damage you or anything. Some of that looks irritated."

A little to late for that. I'm pretty sure if I didn't fracture anything they definitely broke my brain. In a brave attempt we all formed a line near the elevator doors, weapons poised. Martha sucked in air, "The lift's coming up."

Frank growled, "I shoulda brought that gun."

Lazlo pushed us women behind him, "Tallulah, stay back. You too, Martha, Echo. If they send pig slaves, they're trained to kill."

"The Doctor needs me to fight. I'm not going anywhere," Martha argued stubbornly, re-advancing to position. "They're savages. I should know. They're trained to slit your throat with their bare teeth," Lazlo warned. Martha went to retort, but never had the chance when he suddenly collapsed sideways onto a pillar in front of Tallulah. She grabbed his arm, tears moistening in her eyes, "Lazlo? What is it?"

He tried to get up, but struggled as he may his body just wouldn't listen, "No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Just leave me."

He fell back into the pillar again, crumpling onto the floor. Tallulah kneeled beside him touching his forehead, "Oh, honey, you're burnin' up. What's wrong with you? Tell me."

That's right, pig slaves didn't live very long. Wasn't that what Sec had said. Frank leaned over to Martha and I, "One man down and we ain't even started yet."

Martha stared at the door hopelessly, "It's not looking good, Frank."

"Nope."

"Martha, if we're lucky it's just the pig slaves coming up," I watched as the hand showed the elevators progress. "Oh god," she squeaked, "we're gonna get slaughtered."

Lighting flashed throughout the room as thunder boomed soon after. Great, just what we need to nail in the proverbial coffin, an ominous rain storm. Martha jumped up excitedly next to me running to the other end of the room, "Wait a minute. Lightening."

She picked up a large metal rod and began to try and set something up. I stared bewildered as to what she was attempting to accomplish. Dammit, we needed to get ready! What was she doing with those metal rods! Lighting arched through the sky, cracking loudly. Was she crazy! She was gonna get electrocuted if-oh OH! I smacked Frank in the chest. "Oi! Frank, put down your sledge hammer we need to help Martha."

"What is she doing?"

"Saving us from getting killed that's what. Come on let's help her get those rods aligned."

We rushed over to grab another rod connecting it to the one she had just laid down on a work bench. "Don't let them touch the floor guys. Find something to prop them up on," she stated as we sprinted back to the pile. Attaching it to another one, we placed it precariously onto a chair. Tallulah scoffed from next to Lazlo, "What the hell are you three clowns doin'?"

Frank and I galloped back to grab another one bringing it to Martha as she explained to Tallulah, "Even if the Doctor stops the Dalekanium, this place is still gonna get hit. Great big bolt of lightening, electricity all down this building. Connect this to the lift and they get zapped."

"Oh my God, that could work."

"Then give us a hand," Frank shouted as he ran for another load. Frank and Martha put the last one into place as I went to help Tallulah drag Lazlo farther away from the door, limping as I did so. The others came over huddling down with us. "Is that gonna work," Tallulah asked. Martha shivered, looking up towards the sky hopeful, "It's got to."

"I've got it all piped up to the scaffolding outside," Frank huffed while leaning down. She pulled his jacket, forcing him down, "Come here, Frank and sit in the middle and don't touch anything metal."

Frank grabbed all of us protectively, feeling as the only able man a duty to, as Martha entwined her hand into mine. Well, looked like I might be punching out early. I never should have left the TARDIS that morning. The door pinged as it slid open. The pig slaves took one step out of the elevator just as a bolt of lightning struck the building sending the surged energy straight at them. They screamed, convulsing as the electricity ran through their systems, frying them. I looked away as they'd begun to fall, their squealing screams forever seared into my mind.

The sudden lack of noise caused everyone to collectively lift their heads. Pig-men lay scattered in the elevator. Martha was the first to stand and hastily bolt over to the creatures. Frank ran up next to her draping an arm around her shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. "You did it, Martha," Tallulah remarked. She just stared on blankly, peering horrified at her handiwork, "They used to be like Lazlo. They were people and I killed 'em."

I help said man onto his feet. He shuffled over to Martha, "No, the Daleks killed them. Long ago."

"What about the Doctor," Martha pushed everyone out of the way with a sudden urgency as she ran for the ladder. Frank followed her up. "Ain't you going up after them," Tallulah asked. I shook my head with exhaustion, "No. I'm not really in the condition to be. I'd probably fall. Best I just wait here."

"Oh, where are my manners. There was so much goin' on I forgot to introduce my self. I'm Tallulah. That's three l's and an H. And this here is the love of my life Lazlo."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Echo. And I don't mean to be rude but I'm just gonna rest my eyes till they get back," I softly smiled. Tallulah nodded, "That's alright honey. It's been one of those days. Besides it gives Lazlo and me time to catch up."

I tilted my head at the two studying them. Funny, I could actually see them working out. It was good to know that two people could still love each other even when one turned into...well a pig-man. Sluggishly I walked over to a chair pushing off the rods on top of it with my foot. I promptly fell into it and leaned back. It wasn't the best chair but right then a rock would be comfortable, so that was heaven. My mind felt as abused as my body if not more so. Closing my eyes and consequentially drifting off, the ebb and flow of pain became numb. I wasn't sure if it that was a good thing or a bad one. At that moment I was going with good. Yes, I liked that. Good. Good is good. No thinking, no dreaming, no pain, good. I didn't want to be anything else right then. Except the buzzing. I didn't like the buzzing. Didn't want it, didn't need it. Was there a bee up there? No. That didn't sound like a bee. It was more...oh what's the word. Metallic? Mechanical? No, it was more...sonic!

I bolted awake to find everyone crowding around me. They jumped when my eyes shot open and I sprung fourth only to fall back into the chair. The Doctor, holding his sonic screwdriver, seemed relieved that I was up. "Are you guys mental! You scared the crap out of me, I was resting," I choked out. Martha exasperatedly waved her hands around, "You're scared! We thought you were dead! We couldn't get you to wake up."

Well, they did all appeared worried. I rubbed my left eye as if it would wake me up more. "Yeah, sorry. When I sleep nothing can wake me up. Well, almost anything apparently," I stated while pocking the Doctor's screwdriver. The innuendo of that wasn't lost to me as I stopped my self from chuckling, finally feeling slightly better. The Doctor pulled me up from the chair leading me towards a service elevator, "Martha, we can worry about Echo later. Right now we have to stop a Dalek invasion."

"Wait-what? How long have I been asleep," I asked, voice cracking, as we piled into the Elevator. The Doctor pressed the down button, "I'll fill you in along the way."

* * *

><p>It seemed I had missed a lot in my absence, and not just from when I had been wandering haplessly in the sewers. I had wondered how they'd met Tallulah and Lazlo. But unfortunately we had Dalek humans to deal with. Which, not that I'd let them know, I was happier about dealing with than actual Daleks. As we charged behind the Doctor into an old theatre, the old fashion kind with those red seats above and bellow with balcony rooms and velvet curtains. He immediately threw his coat in some random direction hoping into the middle seats. "This should do it," he gazed around the empty theatre, "Here we go."<p>

He waved his sonic in the air, eyes darting across the room madly. I felt a crazy plan whizzing through that head of his. "There ain't nothin' more creepy than a theatre in the dark. Listen, Doctor, I know you got a thing for showtunes, but there's a time and place, hun," Tallulah chided, sitting in one of the seats. I sat down in a seat closer to the Doctor as Lazlo fell into the one next to his lady love. "Lazlo, what's wrong," she asked, fussing over him. He shrugged her off breathing heavily, "Nothing. It's just so hot."

"But…it's freezing in here," she objected worriedly, "Doctor, what's happening to him?"

He was busy listening to his sonic screwdriver, checking the frequencies or something, and so brushed her off, "Not now, Tallulah. Sorry."

Martha took the seat next to me staring at him like he'd finally snapped, "What are you doing?"

"If the Daleks are going to war, they'll wanna find their number one enemy. I'm just telling them where I am."

"So you're luring them here," I looked up at him. "Yes," he stated with an uneasy calm, "And I need you all to leave."

Martha leapt up, "Well, tell me what to do. I can help."

"I'm telling you to go. Frank can take you two back to Hooverville. From there, should something go wrong, head to the TARDIS."

"And I'm telling you I'm not going," she yelled stomping her foot. He glared at her, not having the time or patience to argue, "Martha, that's an order."

"Who are you then," she shouted, "Some sort of Dalek?"

"Martha," I yelled. I couldn't believe she'd just said that! Instantly she regretted it, I could tell, but she didn't get to apologize as the doors behind us burst open. People marched in with massive intimidating guns. Flanking us on either side. Tallulah jumped out of her seat, "Oh, my God! Well, I guess that's them then, huh?"

"Humans…with Dalek DNA," Martha squeaked falling down into her seat. I pulled my feet up into my chair, "I'm guessing now's a little to late to leave."

Frank went to attack one but the Doctor, thank god, pulled him back, "It's all right. Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them."

"But what about the Dalek masters? Where are they," Lazlo wondered. I groaned. No, why;d he have to say that, speak of the devil and he shall appear. They were definitely gonna show up because of that statement, my luck wasn't running that good that day. Just then an explosion went off on stage, sending bricks, wood and shrapnel all across the front. I quickly covered my face and peeked over my arms to see what the hell that was about. I heard the chains before I saw him. Poor Sec crawled in on the floor as the smoke settled, revealing the once proud man. The Doctor slowly stood up. He took one glance back at me before blocking my view. Something that was probably for the best. "The Doctor will stand before the Daleks," one of them screeched. He vaulted over the chairs till he reached the front row standing on top of the back of the seat. "You will die, Doctor. You and your female. It is the beginning of a new age."

"Planet Earth will become New Skaro," one of the Daleks preached. The Doctor stared them down. Not once appearing afraid, "Oh, and what a world. With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and look what you've done to him. Is that your new empire? Hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"

Sec knelt between the two Daleks sighing defeatedly, his face tentacles curling downward, "My Daleks…just understand this. If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you."

"Incorrect. We will always survive," one shook with it's screeching objection. "Now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Doctor," another spoke, "Then the female will follow. The timelords will be no more!"

"But he can help you," Sec pleaded, arguing for the salvation of his species. It drowned him out, "The Doctor must die!"

"No, I beg you, don't," he crawled in front of one of the Daleks, begging them. The buzzing started to pick up in my head again. I braced myself against the chair, I knew what was coming next, but I was so frozen in fear I couldn't even move to prevent it. I felt ashamed that I didn't even try to do something. Anything. "Exterminate!"

At the last second, Sec jumped up, in front of the beam, saving the Doctor. He fell to the floor in a tangled heap, instantly dying. I had to grab my head to keep from screaming. "Your own leader. The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him," The Doctor bit out, turning to the human Daleks, "Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is?"

He cocked his head to the side, a scary look washing over his face, "If I'm gonna die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek-Humans. Their first blood. Go on, baptize them."

He held his arms out wide, egging them on. What the hell! Did he have a death wish. "Dalek-Humans," one of the Daleks ordered, "take aim."

I shot up, finally finding my voice as the human Daleks cocked their guns at him, "Doctor!"

"Sit back down Echo" he shot back sharply, "What are you waiting for? Give the command!"

"Exterminate," the Dalek commanded. I fell back into my chair. My vision starting to spot, the pain tripling at the word. My breathing became shallow, but then nothing happened. "Exterminate!"

Again nothing happened. "Obey. Dalek-Humans will obey."

Martha looked around the room wide eyed, "Not firing. What have you done?"

"You will obey," the Dalek ordered, "Exterminate!"

"Why," one of the Human Daleks asked in the front, turning it's attention to it's creators. The Doctor watched him, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Daleks do not question orders," the masters screeched.

"But why," the man asked the Dalek. The Dalek shook in it's casing, "You will stop this."

"But…why?"

"You must not question."

"But you are not our master. And we…we are not Daleks."

The Doctor jammed his hands into his pant (trousers for you Brits :) ) pockets and swung his hips around smugly, "No, you're not, and you never will be. Sorry, I got in the way of the lightening strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that little bit of freedom."

"If they will not obey, then they must die," The right Dalek shot the Human Dalek Timelord hybrid that had questioned it. "Get down," the Doctor shouted as he dove for the ground. Martha pulled me to the floor as laser hellfire rained down around us. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

I heard a large explosion followed by another, guns shooting, people screaming. I muffle a cry of pain against my arm. More images flooded past the ever thinning and cracking barrier. My vision was becoming tunneled as waves and waves of emotions pounded in my skull. I could barely hear the Doctor talking as the noise stopped, "It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. You did it. You're free."

Suddenly there was a chorus of heart wrenching screams ,and for a second, I wasn't sure if it was coming from me. It wasn't till I realized from the Doctor's yelling that it come from the hybrid soldiers. "No! They can't! They can't! They can't!"

I heard Martha race away, "What happened? What was that?"

"They killed 'em. Rather than let them live. An entire species," the Doctor choked out, "Genocide."

"Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed. One of the Dalek masters must still be alive," Lazlo reasoned joining them. "Oh, yes. In the whole universe, just one," The Doctor growled. "We're coming with you," I heard Martha insisted. I curled further into the floor. The pressure in my skull becoming to much. No, I didn't wish to go.

"There's no way you'll change your mind is there," he asked.

"Nope."

"Alright. But while I deal with the Dalek you'll all have to stay out of sight. I'm not losing anyone else today."

I believe I heard people walking away, but it was hard to tell as my mind became chaotic, having a hard time functioning. "Wait. Echo, lets go. You can come up now," Martha shouted back. Did she shout? I didn't know, it sounded like she had. My ears were ringing, but wasn't she far away. God, why did everything hurt so much!

I felt as if I was moving, but I didn't think my brain told my body to sit up. Had it? A cool hand cupped my face. Oh, it was the nice smell. I liked that smell! "Echo can you here me? I need you to say something," the Doctor asked. He sounded upset. I should be upset. "Hurts."

I said that. At least I think I did? It felt like it was something I would say. Cause it did. A cool hand touched my forehead. "My god she's burning up!"

That was Martha. At least I thought it was. I didn't know, everything sort of sounded muffled and far off. Something cold and wet fell down my face. Was I crying? I thought so, but that didn't sound like something I'd do in front of people. Was someone else crying?

"What is that stuff floating off of her!"

I don't know! Was there stuff. What stuff? I didn't feel stuff? Is it my stuff? What kind of stuff? Is someone talking? I didn't know anymore! Everything was getting so far away! I was scared, where was I going? It hurt. It hurt! Doctor! I could feel myself falling into the darkness. It's inky tendrils engulfing me, dragging me down into that darkness deep. The last thing, the only thing, I heard before I fell away was someone shouting. Their worried voice following me down.

"Echo."

...

_"Echo!" _

* * *

><p>Oh cliff hanger oh snap! Well i promise you her whole crazy painasode will make perfect sense in the next chapter as a little of her past comes into light. Maybe even revealing something of her future. O.O hmmm hmmmm Well i hope you all review it definitely makes my day and keeps me inclined to write faster. Next episode is an original. :)<p>

**NEXT CHAPTER: **Trick or Treat O.O


	8. Trick or Treat

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show. And sorry for any spelling mistakes ahead of time.

Sorry about taking so long to update, but here it is. The first part is a dream sequence by the way. And did anyone watch the new episode of DW OMG! Not to spoil it to much all i'll say is i cried TT_TT. but I can't wait for the next episode :)

**TheGirlWhoWaited: **_thx for the plushies! here's the update. :)_

_**fanfreak4ever: **Well you're about to get your answer to that question :P lol_

_**aandm20: **Hooray I did a good job! and maybe :P_

_**Zylia Gregorvich: **__I'm glad you stumbled across it to :)_

**Singing like blue: **_you rock for reviewing :D_

**Guest: **_Thank you for enjoying it. I'm glad you don't think that she's to over powering, i love OC's to but i don't want her to steal lines that would be someone else's because then i feel bad because i took away that characters shining moment. I know I'm lame because i feel bad for imaginary people, lol. :P_

**Fallenrockerangel91: **_One post ready to order! :D_

**rainbow 12345: **_Here it is :)_

**Stupid-nickel: **_i think i fix the sp mistake in the last chap, let me know if u see any in this one. Really enjoying your story so far as well, again your concept is so newly awesome :) and as for your other queries you'll find out bellow :D_

**Amirizar2003: **_Wow three reviews in a row, that makes me feel awesome thxs :D Well, he's some more character interaction between the doc and echo :P I'm soooo glad you enjoyed it last time hopefully i can keep it up :)_

**Midnight Angel414: **_I do the same thing when ever I read a story as well :) unfortunately you can't watch this next one i know sad face, lol. though i wish they did a Halloween episode. That would be fun :)_

**kawaiipandaz: **_Really! TT_TT thx for thinking it's that awesome, I'm soo sorry it took so long to update._

**Jade: **_Well lets see if your deductions ring true as time goes on :) and that saying is so totally true :D also I would love to read your story send me a link and i will :)_

**Pseudo: **_then wait no more! here it is hope you like it :)_

**PheonixMinx: **_OoOo tow reviews in one day! thank awesome person :D I'm glad it's good so far and sorry I confused you at the beginning._

_**Outfits the characters are wearing are links on my profile so check them out if you need a visual :)**_

* * *

><p><em>Fire. It was hot, thick, and suffocating. Burning! But the man kept on running. Running. Running. Running. Through the rubble, through the blaze, through the screams and destruction raining down from above, and through the pain. He had to. There wasn't much time. He couldn't save them. No one could. Though it was rumored someone above still tried. So he could at least try to save one. The one he clutched desperately to his chest. The special secret only three had known of, the secret only he now knew.<em>

_He had promised the other two that he would keep the secret safe and so he would. She was so small and tiny. Barely able to say a word. He would never see her go to the academy, never see the amazing woman she would become. She looked up at him, large eyes so frightened, so scared, that they were glazed over in unshed tears. She knew. She knew what he was about to do and it weighed heavy on his hearts, but he had no other choice. A ship, in the form of a phone booth, crashed ahead of him. Her pilots all dead. Hope in all the horror had landed before him opening it's doors. It was badly damaged but it was good enough for one more trip, it's song was already beginning to fade. This would be the last thing it ever did and it knew. It wanted to help. He had to be quick._

_A surge of adrenaline sent him hurtling forward. He rushed towards the breaking machine. But something to his left had caught his attention. Something sinister moved in the destruction. Sweat dripped down his brow. Blood and sot caked his face. His grey eyes piercing out of the grim debris widened in fear. No, he was so close! The flames sparked around him, licking at his skin, as hate rolled through the smoke. He was almost to the doors, he was just about there. The creature spotted him and aimed. In his last seconds he shielded the child as a ray pierced his side. No, he had promised them! He couldn't die just yet. Not yet. He looked down at her, his child. Hot wet tears steamed down his cheeks, falling upon her. His only child. Their Daughter. He'd made a promise. He was so close. But it was too late. He'd failed._

_"Exterminate!"_

I jolted up screaming, lashing my arms about wildly, trying to stave off some force that was no longer there. Yet, something cold was constricting me, trying to keep me in place. Stopping me from fending off the nightmare. A voice called out. I tried to focus my erratic senses on it, latching onto it like a life line. Then everything suddenly shifted, the world reconstructed around me and took shape, and I found myself in a room, a very peculiar room. My momentary panic was put on a back burner as I observed my new surroundings. It was sterile white, octagonal shaped, and gave off a funny feeling, but the more unnerving part was that I was floating in the middle of it. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I was no longer dreaming. When had the laws of gravity decide to stop working! "Echo, can you hear me?"

I swiveled my attention up to see the Doctor's worried face hovering close to mine. His arms holding mine still. I attempted to work my mouth a few times, trying to speak, before I reluctantly found my voice, "Yes."

God, I sounded awful. How long had I been screaming? His eyes softened, "Good. You had me worried there for a bit. You've been in a healing coma for a few days and then you suddenly jolted up wailing. I thought something might have gone wrong."

Ok, I was confused. A coma? "W-what? What are you talking about? Doctor where are we, last I remember we were at the theatre and…"

He smiled. Of course, I've seen him smile plenty of times before, but not like that. That one was somehow different. It was sort of hopeful and filled with an emotion I couldn't quite place. He gently released his grip leaving me suspended in mid air, which I still found a bit unnerving. "Your psyche cracked. Which for a normal person would be bad but for you, for you it meant something else entirely. You were too young, I'm guessing, to go through a chameleon arc and survive so they must have had to improvise. Plus, there wasn't much of a timelord essence to store away as you were most likely too young to have gone through the initiation ceremony. So they had to lock any timelord thoughts or knowledge you had in that big amazing brain of yours, compacting it in as tight as they could in order to hide you. Except you can't contain all that timelord physiology that way, there's to much. So there was left overs, one being your personality and the other," he tapped one side of my chest then the other, "your two hearts. Which is why you wouldn't register as human. Though one of them is dormant for now, but that will soon change."

"So it wasn't a fluke," I whispered, running a hand down my face, "...I-I'm timelord."

"Well, not fully," he corrected, "You wouldn't have been able to handle the strain of the flow of energy and information being released all at once so your body, for lack of a better word, shut down trying to patch a fix for the hole. You even almost regenerated, which most likely would have killed you in your condition. So, once we made it back to the TARDIS I brought you here, to the zero room. Blimey, been a while since I've been in here but thankfully the old girls kept it in working order. It's good for a particularly nasty regeneration or rapid healing. More specifically neurological healing, had to use it myself a few times. But your mind couldn't go back to the way it was, so everything that had been locked away should slowly start to trickle through at a more manageable pace. You won't even notice it. Although you might have some bad migraines every now and again. Maybe a sharp pain or two as your biology re-adjusts to your Timelord make up. And…," he trailed off mid ramble. I guessed he must have seen something written across my face, emotions that I thought I was hiding well, because he sheepishly tugged on his ear, "I'm sorry. I know this isn't how you wanted to find out about your heritage...I know you didn't even wanted to know at all and that it's a lot to take in, but it's better this way. This way I can help you adjust. Any questions you'd have I'd be able to answer. And you will have questions. Maybe not now or tomorrow but you will-," He stopped as I interrupted him. "Doctor," I called out as calmly as I could, "I know you're just trying to help, but right now I don't want to talk about this subject anymore. So please."

When his smile fell I instantly felt awful. It must have been nice for him to feel like he wasn't alone, that he wasn't the last. But I was angry. Oh, how I hated being angry, but I was. I didn't let it show. I didn't say it. And how could I?! He'd lost his home, his people, his family, there was truly nothing more awful I could think of. To lose that much. And then find out he wasn't alone. That there was another alive. But those people, that heritage, they weren't mine. I didn't know them. I never truly could. In the end they're just words. Memories of something long gone. It was all too much to take in.

So how was that any better? I had spent a better portion of my childhood hating the long dead. Cursing them. Thinking they had abandoned me all those years ago. Only to find out that the place I had came from was in a terrible war and the fact that I was alive probably meant my parents loved me and were trying to save me. _Yeah that's SOOOO much better!_ I mentally sighed. Everything was some much easier when I thought I was human. At least then I knew who I was. Now it was all kind of up in the air.

The Doctor appeared apologetic as he moved to help me regain my gravity and stand up right. "It's alright to be angry," he patted my shoulder, "After all you're probably quite confused. But this doesn't change who you are. You're still you, just...more Timelord."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. How had he known what I was thinking, was I that transparent? No, I couldn't be. I was a hundred percent sure that what I was thinking wasn't showing on my face, so how? "How do you...I mean my face wasn't...," I trailed off. He perked up with a smile, "Oh! Timelords have telepathic links to each other so-"

"Wait," I shouted with alarm, "you're reading my mind!"

"Oh! No, no," he waved his hands frantically trying to placate me, "not right now your mind is too unstable for that, but I can feel your emotions. Eventually you'll learn to build barriers."

"Great, so I'm a mood ring," I groaned, covering my hands over my face, blocking the Doctor from view. Slowing my breathing, I tried my best to calm myself from the torrent of emotions swirling within me. I'd sort them out later in private. Maybe hit up a gym and take it out on a punching bag or have myself a cry in the ladies room. Attempting to compose myself, as best I could in that situation, I faced the Doctor to find him smiling. I lightly frowned at it, "Oh god what is it now. Look I know I'm probably acting like a brat right now, scratch that I know I'm acting like a brat, but I'm not ready to brooch the subject of what I really am a-and why are you still smiling?!"

Next thing I knew I was squished against the Doctor caught in a giant bear hug as he was no longer able to contain himself. "Oh-alright! Oomph! Ok-we're-Ok, we're hugging now. Alright," I awkwardly patted his back whilst he lightly squeezed me, rocking us back and fourth. I know I was weird, Martha would've died to get in on that hug, but I wasn't very good at giving or receiving affection. No matter how platonic. After what felt like an extremely long few seconds ticked by I found myself finally un-stiffening and actually melting into the gesture, burrowing my face into his shoulder. But, I froze when I realized the emotion placed behind the hug, and I again found myself feeling guilty, "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I'm not being very accommodating, I mean…," I murmured against his coat. He must have been so happy to find another of his species and there I was giving him the opposite reaction he would've liked. Not exactly a happy reunion. If it had been anyone else other than me it may have been. But why did it have to be me? He shifted so he could make eye contact, but I immediately looked down and away.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he assured, "I don't expect you accept it right away, after all human is all you've known. But I'll be patient if you can try to be with me."

"Deal," I nodded my head as we pulled apart from each other, his hands resting on my shoulders. He gave them a reassuring squeeze, "Though I have to warn you I may randomly hug you on occasion."

"Well, then I have to warn you not to hug me from behind or you'll get an elbow to the gut. It's a reflex, nothing personal."

He winced as if imagining the blow, "Noted."

He then smiled down at me once more, something I felt he'd be doing a lot of from then on, before twirling me around towards the door, leading me out of the strange room; his hands steering me from behind. He cleared his throat, "Well I was thinking—with everything that happened in New York and all—that maybe there was somewhere you'd like to go for a daycation? Anywhere, any-when, you name it, we could go there. How does that sound?"

I tried to turn my head to get a look at him, but he kept leading me forward. Since I couldn't gauge the emotion on his face, I figured, if he could feel my emotions then, that same line of connection applied to him. And, to my surprise, it actually worked. Although it did give me a slight headache, but my effort paid off. I frowned slightly at what I'd found. "Is this because you feel guilty," I asked.

Suddenly a steel wall came crashing down upon his emotions, promptly kicking me out, and then I felt nothing emitting from him. "You're picking up your abilities quite quickly it would seem."

I shrugged, "I've been told I have a steep learning curve."

"And it'll only get steeper as time goes on but lets worry about that later. Have you picked a place yet," he inquired just as we reached the console room. Martha who was sitting idly on the jump seat immediately stood up upon noticing us. She rushed over and I was instantly found in another hug. "Oh god you're alright! You're fine—I mean he said you would be—but there was all that glowy stuff, you were screaming and...I'm glad your ok," she prattled off as she inspected my persons, flying into full doctor mode. The Doctor, probably sensing my discomfort, spoke causing her to pause her ministrations. "Yes she is," he clapped his hands together striding over to the console, "and because she's feeling better I thought she might pick one more place for us to go to. What do you think?"

Martha hooked one of her arms into mine grinning, "Sounds great! So, do you have a place in mind?

I nodded in absent thought, "Yep! But we're all gonna need a change of clothes...and three pillow cases."

My two friends looked to each other quizzically. "Pillow cases?"

* * *

><p>Stepping out of the TARDIS I grinned while waiting for the others in the alley we were currently parked in, breathing in the night air. I couldn't help myself after all. Once I'd gotten dressed I could barely contain my energy so I'd zoomed straight for the doors. And since we were already parked in the right place I figured I'd wait for them outside. But I was having a problem even standing still as I hopped from foot to foot. All problems and issues shoved to the side.<p>

If it were any other day I'd probably be fixated on recent events, but it was my favorite day out of the year. October 31st. A time for pranks, scary dares, haunted houses, free candy, costumes and parties! And every year since I had been adopted it had been tradition to ride the train into Salem. And every year I had made that journey, filled my bag full of candy, eaten a caramel apple, visited the many haunted houses in the area and—as I had gotten older—gotten into all sorts of mischief. Except for one year, 2011. The year we had landed in. So I leaned against the TARDIS in my awesome pirate costume which consisted of the stereotypical hat, the black boots, black puffy pants, a black and red stripped crop top that fit like a glove leaving a bit of my midriff showing, it even had an eyepatch under a long red bandana. I sighed gripping my temporary bag, one that fit my theme matching the outfit perfectly, when the blue doors burst open.

"There you are. Doctor she's out here," Martha yelled back into the TARDIS, a slight panic disappearing from her voice. She turned and smiled noticing my outfit, "A pirate. Nice. What do you think about mine?"

She twirled around, the arms of her short orange psychedelic dress billowing around her. She paired it with an orange and pink flower wreath for her head, a peace necklace, yellow star glasses and some knee high white go-go boots. I gave her a thumbs up, "Groovy man."

"Right," she grinned, "and did you see all those clothes! There were some really nice things in there," she grabbed at her dress a little examining it, "and I think this may even be authentic. What about yours?"

I looked down at my ensemble, "Mmm, some of it. Definitely the boots, the pants, the hat and the bag, maybe the bandana and eye patch but definitely not the shirt. It's a little high for my liking but this was the only outfit available in the room when I went in. I think the Doctor put it out for me."

Speaking of which, the man himself popped out of the doors closing them behind him as he did so. His steps clinked from the spurs on his boots. I could tell Martha liked his costume as she drank in the sight of him. I see he decided to go with the gunslinger look as he had one of those cap guns I used to play with as a kid in his leather holster. He wore blue jeans and over it was a white dress shirt under a light brown vest and grey jacket. I tried not to laugh when I saw the sheriff star he had pinned to the vest said Doctor instead of it's usual monicker.

He shoved his hands into his pockets with his signature smile firmly in place, "Well don't you look stunning. Lovin' the flower power. Haven't seen a dress like that since I went to Woodstock. Now there was a festival. So much dancing! Even the Dren came to-well needless to say it was my fault the Grateful Dead's amps overloaded during _'Turn on Your Love Light'_."

She sent him a flirty smile, "Well you make for a really great cowboy."

The Doctor being non the wiser of the sexual subtext of her words puffed at the compliment and grabbed at the lapels of his coat in appreciation. Having his ego boosted just a bit he turned to his right scanning for something. "Where's Echo? I'd love to see what she picked out-," he stalled as he caught sight of me. His mouth fished open for a few seconds till he found his words. He cleared his throat, "Look at that, you're a pirate! A lovely little pirate."

He walked over shrugging off his coat, "Here, you look like you need it."

I frowned confused stepping away from the jacket, "Naw. I'm cool. Besides it won't go with my look."

"I insist," he smiled. I shrugged him off stepping away again, "Doctor I don't need a coat. Really, I'm fine."

"Yeah but…"

"But what?"

"Well your shirt...it's," he gestured to his mid section then to mine. "And it's um," he made a chopping motion bellow his chest. I furrowed my eyebrows in worry looking at my stomach then back at him as I tried covering it with my hands. "Why do I look bad? Does it make my stomach look weird or something?"

"What, no of course not. It looks fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's fine."

"Well, then if you didn't like the outfit then why'd you pick it out for me," I huffed crossing my arms together. He stammered over his words, voice cracking, "Wha-what!? No, I didn't pick that out!"

"Then why," I argued, "was it the only costume in the wardrobe when I went in."

A look of realization painted his features as he pursed his lips turning to stare at his beloved blue box. "Oh, you naughty thing," he turned back to me, "Sorry, it would seem the TARDIS wanted you to wear that. She's alive you see. She must have gotten excited about having another timelord on board. Of course since she can't communicate with you as she does with me right now she must have figured she'd try and communicate with a physical gesture. Thus the outfit. She thinks you look nice by the way."

"Oh? Really," I looked down at my ensemble, "Well, that's nice of her. Thank you."

Martha gaped at the machine, thankfully for once not choosing to get jealous over something out of my control, "Wait! So your time machine is alive! But it's made of metals and what nots."

I strolled over to the old girl running a hand lightly against the blue wood, sliding it across the grain. "Of course she's alive," I corrected, "TARDIS's are grown after all. She wouldn't be as fun if she wasn't."

I paused wide eyed realizing what I'd said. How had I known that? I retracted my hand as a weird tingling sensation appeared where the wood and skin made contact. The Doctor gasped from beside me, "You remembered something. That's fantastic!"

I shifted uncomfortable crossing my arms over my chest once again. It wasn't the only thing but I didn't wish to have a conversation about my nightmare at that time. So I lied. "Well, that's the only thing."

"So, trick or treating," Martha inquired trying to change the subject. I jumped upon the opportunity and clapped my hands together, "Yes! Right, there are a couple of rules you should know about first. One, unattended candy is far game—i.e. the home owners leave a bowl of candy out front with just a sign saying take one, so you take as many as you want."

"Well, that doesn't seem far," the Doctor said. I shrugged, "Dems the rules Doc, first come first serve. Now! Rule two, when ringing the door bell it's customary to say _trick or treat _or you don't receive any candy. Three, if there's no candy and no one's answering the door you reserve the right to teepee and egg the home."

"Wait you throws eggs at peoples houses? Won't you get into trouble. And what the heck is teepee? Do you build an indian hut on the property or something," Martha asked, face scrunching in confusion. I rolled my eyes with a huff, "Are you two gonna keep interrupting me? Beside you only get in trouble if your caught, just throw and run. And teepeeing is throwing toilet paper so it's strung around all over the place. And before the two of you get your panties in a bunch it's Halloween! It's a time of mischief making, pranks, free candy, and fun. So if you both have any questions please wait till I'm finished with the rules...now where was I? Ah yes! Four, those who trick or treat together stay together. Meaning no ones allowed to disappear from eyesight of the others without informing someone of where they're going and how long they'll be. Now five, should someone get separated we meet at a designated location and phone each other of our current location. My friends and I usually meet at the nightmare factory since we usually all end up there eventually. It's at the museum palace mall. Six, you have to go in at least one haunted house. Seven, if your shoulder isn't sore by the end of the night from carrying too much candy your not doing it right. And...well if I can think of any other rules I'll let you know. Now," I paused for breath, adding in a quick smile, "questions?"

They both appeared amused at the enthusiasm to which I'd displayed while speaking. Probably due to my wild hand gestures that I could never really quite sensor. The Doctor stepped forward flinging his blue pillow case over his shoulder, "Just one. Will they be giving out banana flavored treats?"

* * *

><p>Two seven year old boys dressed as red power rangers ran into the street giggling with orange pumpkin bags that crinkled with candy. The streets of Salem were alive, bustling full of monsters, witches, fairies and princesses, even a celebrity impostors or two under the pale moon light. As well as the few funny rude costumes, mainly the male genitalia running after the female one. Their was laughter and fun around every brick ladened corner and shrieks and shouts of surprise from the many haunted attractions. I walked down the stone steps of the green colonial behind me, my bag a few candies heavier, and scanned the area for my two compatriots.<p>

I watched as Martha raced across the street to meet with me on the side walk, laughing as she did. "This is completely ridiculous you realize, since we're to old for trick or treat, right," she grinned grabbing hold of my arm, dragging me on to the next home. I laughed, "Psh, you're never to old for trick or treat. Besides I'm not the one practically skipping down the street to the next house."

It was at that moment the Doctor came bowling over next, bumping Martha's shoulder playfully, "I see that you've gotten into the halloween spirit of things. How much have you received so far?"

She shoved her pink pillow case out revealing it to be a little over a quarter full. She peered in it surveying her quarry, "I think I've done pretty well so far considering my age warrant's that I don't get candy to some home owners. What about you guys?"

The Doctor pulled his out, holding it before us. Martha tried not to smile as his bag swung limply in the air, only an eighth full. He rubbed his ear, "I know what you mean. More than a few we're a bit rude, but the night is young. We could still get more."

I stifled a laugh and the Doctor and Martha shot me speculative looks. "Something to add," the Doctor asked trying to view over my shoulder. "Nope. Nothing," I said while keeping it out of his line of sight. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Really then why can I feel you laughing inside."

Twirling around, and quickly shifting my bag behind me, I addressed him while slowly walking backwards, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let's see your bag if you think it's so funny," Martha cheekily quipped. I pretended to appear thoughtful, maybe even a little reluctant, as I continued to walk backwards down the road. I sighed dramatically, "I suppose if I have too."

Whipping out my black pillow case, I gave them my best shit eating grin, "Read em' and weep ladies."

Both of them looked shocked to find the bag three quarters full as I strained to hold it up. Before I could further gloat about my awesome haul I ended up dropping it, spilling it's contents all over the ground when a man bumped into me. "Oi! Watch were you're going mate," Martha yelled at him as he sulked off. He took one glance back but continued on, not even offering an apology. Martha leaned down to help me recollect the candy as I knelt over my bag. I turned my head to watch the man as I started refilling the bag, following him with my gaze. There had been something a little off putting about that fellow. I didn't know what it was but, something just wasn't quite right. The man appeared to be in his early twenties, dressed as a baseball player—so nothing odd there—but he had dark eye make up on or something, and he was looking a little silver. I wasn't really sure what that had to do with his costume scheme, but the weirdest thing though—the thing that caught my attention—was that when he bumped into me he was stone cold, his skin even felt off. Like it was to smooth to be skin. But, it was Halloween so I shrugged it off as his costume make up. "Echo. What is it?"

"Huh," I answered, twirling to face the Doctor. He gazed down concerned with my persons, "Are you alright?"

"What? Yes...I mean-," I trailed off looking back towards the man as he regrouped with what looked to be his three friends, normal looking friends I might add. They clapped him on the back laughing, but he moved stoically. His gait very rigid. "It's just-that man seemed...never mind. It's nothing."

He raised an eyebrow and followed my line of sight, "Are you sure?"

I nodded my head to reassure him, "Yeah."

Martha stood up as the last of the sweets were once again in the pillow case and pulled me up with her, "I don't know about you two, but I say we go back and throw our loot into the TARDIS. Then maybe check out the carnival I've been hearing about. A lot of people on the street have been giving it good reviews so it sounded like it might be fun."

I perked up at the suggestion, shaking off the odd sensation, "Oo! Can we? I love carnivals. Plus my arms could use the rest."

Martha and I turned, waited expectantly for the Doctor's response, but he seemed otherwise preoccupied with something, staring somewhere behind me. I turned to follow his gaze and spotted the silvery base ball player almost stubble into some kids, one of his friends steadying him by the arm. But I lost them when they melded into a large crowd, heading towards Pickering wharf. Martha cleared her throat, "Doctor?"

"What!? Oh-yes that sounds great. And you know what," he spoke as he promptly seized our pillow cases, "how about I take these back for us and I'll meet you there. It should only take a couple of minutes."

"Are you sure," Martha asked. "Yep," he stated popping his 'p'. "I'll see you in tick," he assured, waving at us as he ran off towards the TARDIS, his spurs clinging as he went. Martha shook her head causing her hair to cascade around her, hands on her hips, "I wonder what that was about."

I sighed, "I don't know but, considering he somehow always finds trouble, I have a feeling this outing has a life expectancy of another...fifteen minutes before it starts getting messy. So we better go and enjoy the carnival while we can."

She giggled and bumped her hip playfully into mine, "That does seem to be a reoccurring pattern with him doesn't it. But he's definitely worth it."

Upon hearing the wistfulness in her voice I felt bad for her. She was so in love with the guy she didn't realize she was just setting herself up for a world of hurt. After all, he was still clearly in love with the woman who came before us. Rose. He was still pining for her even now. And though I may have never been in love myself I've witnessed plenty of relationships to know the signs. I only hoped she came to the same realization before it got too serious.

She grasped my hand tugging me forward—which I was secretly pleased about because maybe that meant she was past seeing me as competition—and weaved us through the other trick or treaters. We stopped at an intersection as she looked both ways then ran across to the other side. She paused for a second when we reached the sidewalk, "Alright, so the chuwbacca I met a couple streets down said the carnival is on Derby Street near the wharf," she reiterated as she dropped my hand, trying to read the street signs ahead of us, when a thought must have occurred to her, "...and I just realized I have no idea where that is."

I smiled and padded forward waving her on, "Good thing for you I've come here every year since I was a wee little monster so I know exactly how to get there from here."

"Oh thank god...wait doesn't that mean you're here now. Like there's a past you running around somewhere? Shouldn't we be worried about bumpin' into well...you."

"We would be if past me was actually here, but this is the one year I didn't make it. It's the reason I picked it. Right about now past me, the poor thing, is knee deep in marshland because someone—my dear friend Hunter—decided they'd wait till last minute to do a biology project and forgot to fill up the tank on the motor boat."

Martha caught up and quickly fell into step with my strides and peered at me in interest. "So who's Hunter," she cooed playfully. I rolled my eyes, smiling at the absurdity of what she was trying to imply, "He's just a friend Martha. A good childhood friend who happens to live in the same apartment as me. Which is why I was helping him. But it was mainly due to my other roommate Steve who was to busy playing hanky panky with my friend Ali and I didn't wish to be further scared by hearing them go at it in the other room. Which is why I was in the marsh helping him collect his tedious water and sediment samples."

"So you live in a flat with two blokes and you have them all to your self. Lucky! Are they hot," she teased smiling cheekily as she did so. "Martha!"

"Alright, alright. I'm just kidding. So what happened next?"

My face screwed up in disgusted, "Oh god, Martha. I don't know what they did in the privacy of their room. That's just gross. Why would you ask that!?"

She immediately flustered and waved her hands around, "Oh no, no, no, that's not what I was asking. I was talking about your marsh trip not that! I didn't mean-"

"I know I was just getting you back for earlier," I grinned. She lightly smacked my arm in retaliation, but I could tell she was fighting off a smile. This caused my grin to only widen, "Alright, so we're about six or seven miles out into the wilderness, in the middle of no where I might add, when the engine stalled. Now, I have no problem paddling but, Hunter, being the moron he is, threw the paddles into the back of his truck and forgot to put them back. So there we were just drifting about and the tides going out. At that point I'm pissed, but I think we're fine since we both have our phones. But what do you know there's no signal! It was then and there I realized we're gonna have to trek back to our cars, with the coolers, through the salt water marsh. To make matters worse it started to get dark and coyotes come out at night and have been known to attack people in packs. Oh, but that's not the best part, since the tide has gone out the little maze of rivers, all threw out the place, are then empty. So to get across, we have to walk threw the muck that at some points reached my chest and was also extremely hard to trudge threw. It didn't help that it smells god awful, almost like a briny sewage. So I'm tired, cold, wet, covered in gross, starving—since I didn't pack anything as it was only supposed to be a couple of hours—and contemplating on how I could get away with murdering my friend when he did the smartest thing he'd done all night. It was what redeemed him in the end."

Martha watched avidly, wanting to know the rest, "What'd he do?"

"He piggy backed my ass all the way back to the truck and not once did he complain about my weight. After that he bought me three river view pizza's. My one true weakness," I laughed, just as I heard the telltale carnival music traveling down along with the wind. I looked ahead to see groups of costumed people smiling and chuckling as they headed towards a colorfully decorated entrance covered with skull lanterns. She snickered into my shoulder hugging me with one arm, "To bad you couldn't go back in time and stop yourself from going."

I playfully pushed her trying to look upset but failing horribly, "Ugh I know. If only we had one of those time-machine thingies and it wouldn't tear all of time and space apart, right."

She snorted a laugh and grabbed my arm dragging me further along into the fair grounds, "Come on."

As we squished through the crowds, bumping into each other every now and then, we acted like a couple of teenage drunks having fun. In reality we were as dry as a bone, but I think between the festive atmosphere and with the non impending danger, we just couldn't help it. Of course, we were both fully aware that at any moment trouble would present its self and shatter that illusion. Though I still held out hope that the only trouble we'd have that night was getting those hoops onto the milk bottles and win a prize at one of the carnival booths.

Surveying our surroundings Martha weaved over to a line waiting for the chair-o-planes, that ride that had the top of a carousel but had suspended chairs hanging onto it, that spun through the air. She looked upon it giddily, "Oh! Lets try thing one first!"

I shrugged. "Alright, but we're gonna need tickets see," I pointed over to the sign plaqued onto the metal fence surrounding the attraction. It stated the usual height and weight nonsense with the normal health precautions, right bellow that was a picture of three tickets. "We'll need tickets to ride it."

She gasped placing a hand over her mouth, "Oh my god, I totally spaced. Didn't even think about money. What are we gonna do?"

I tried not to smile and rooted through my bag, "I thought something like this might happen so I came prepared. Now where...ah, there we are."

I pulled out a small wad of cash and waved it happily in the air. I always made sure to have a little rainy day money on hand just in case. She instantly looked guilty and tried to wave off the offer, "No. I can't make you pay. It not fair-"

"Martha I'm gonna stop you now, don't worry about it. If you still feel bad, later, when we're back in London, you can buy me a souvenir. How 'bout that," I assured her as I led us out into the crowded pathways. I examined the area looking for a ticket booth, trying to see over the stalls and food carts, till I spotted one down near a carnival game three rides away. Rushing over to it I bought fifty tickets and still had twenty dollars left, which was a good thing because I definitely wanted to win a game for a prize. I handed Martha fifteen tickets saving the rest for the Doctor and myself, leaving the last five for emergency.

I was about to suggest we head back over to the ride when something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. A wicked smile worked it's way onto my face, "Hey Martha, remember rule number six?"

She looked at me confused, "No. Why? What was rule six?"

I pointed over to an empty haunted house entrance, laying betwixt a ballon dart game and a squirt gun racing booth. She followed my line of direction frowning slightly, "Why don't we skip rule six. After all, don't you think it's tempting fate. I mean haunted house, Doctor, trouble."

I snorted, "Oh Martha, what makes you think going on a ride that swings around in the air would be any safer. Besides this is the kind that you sit in a little roller coster car and get driven around at three miles an hour as corny spooky stuff pops out at you."

She still looked unconvinced, running a hand along her throat. "I don't know…"

I shook my head, wiggling my bandana as I did so, "Alright, didn't think you'd be the type to get scared of a little haunted house. But I guess I could check it out first while you ride the chair-o-plane. By the time you're done I'll be waiting on the side lines and you and the Doctor could check it out next as we switch rides."

Apparently she liked the idea as her face alighted with a great big smile. She nodded her head in agreement. "That sounds great," she grinned, waving at me as she walked off with the foot traffic, "have fun."

"I'll try," I shouted after her as she disappeared into the masses. As there was no point in wasting time standing around I skipped over to the ride. Lucky for me there was only one other person in line. He sent me a polite smile as I got in behind him, which I returned. He appeared to be around the same age as me, he was definitely taller though, he was about six feet, and dressed as a ghost buster—which I totally approved of—he had warm hazel eyes, and shaggy blonde hair. Martha would probably love him, but I'd never share that musing with her. Of course, then I found myself surprised as I noticed something, "Hey, your that baseball players friend."

"What," he asked, canting his head back to me a bit confused. Realizing my mistake I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. Crap, I hadn't meant to say that out loud, "Sorry didn't mean to say that out loud...or that either. God, I'm such a spaz sometimes. Sorry, um I should probably explain. I'm not a weirdo or anything it's just-right, so earlier a guy dress as a baseball player with the dead eye make up bumped into me and spilt the contents of my bag all over the ground. I just thought it was a little funny I'd see his friend at a carnival...oh god you're probably wondering how I know you're his friend-I mean-I-well I saw you across the street and-sorry I'm not some-."

He smiled chuckling lightly, interrupting my humiliating tangent. "Sorry," he apologized, "it's just, has anyone ever told you you're cute when you're flustered. And your wild hand gestures, adorable."

Well, if I hadn't felt embarrassed before I definitely was then, as I was pretty sure I could feel the blood rushing straight to my face. Great. I shifted awkwardly trying to find words to respond with. "It's um," I cleared my throat as my voice pitched, "Uh-well thank you?"

"Now I don't know about my friend but I'll apologize on his behalf, you'll have to forgive him. I think he got a little to excited, the holidays and all. He had a bit to much to drink I think before we got here. He's actually the one who brought me over to this ride, he should be halfway done by now. You know it's funny. He doesn't usually go for these rides but I told him you're not doing Halloween right unless you visit at least one haunted house," he smiled softly. I almost jumped up and down when he said that, "That's what I told my friends!"

He laughed at my enthusiasm when suddenly the gated doors creaked wide open. A silvery man came out dressed as the grim reaper and gazed hollowly towards us, "Two. He said there'd only be one. What luck we needed two."

My creep-o-meter started going off at that statement. It sounded a little to weird, but it was Halloween and your supposed to freak people out, so mission accomplished creepy dude. The ghostbuster next to me quirked an eyebrow, "why two?"

The middle aged grim reaper panicked slightly, but recovered quickly, "Because you need two to ride the cars. No single occupancy. Now," he stepped back bowing us in, "please, enter _if you dare_."

I gulped at the scary tone his voice pitched into at the end of his sentence, but tried to shake it off. It was just a stupid gag. The ghostbuster however linked his arm with mine, "Well lucky us then."

"Yeah...lucky us," I whispered to myself as he pulled me along through the entrance. The grim reaper smiled menacingly from outside, eyes watching our every move. Definitely felt a foreboding sensation there. I unhooked myself from my new friend and went to leave, "You know I think maybe I'll wait till my friends get here."

Just then the reaper slammed the door shut on my face, the room echoing with the loud noise. I tried to pry it open only to find that it was locked. I banged on it loudly with my right arm, "Hey! You can't just lock people in here, let me out. I'll come back later. Hey!"

"Hey, buddy she wants out! Open the doors," blondie shouted as he jiggled the doors back and fourth. He gazed down at me apologetically, "Sorry, I don't think he's listening. Probably ran to his smoke break. Are you gonna be alright?"

I sighed, "I guess it's just...I have a bad feeling is all."

He fished through his jumpsuit pocket pulling out a droid phone. He looked down at it, the light illuminating his features as he faced the doors. He shouted one more time trying to get someone attention from the other side. "I'm calling the police!"

The doors still didn't open, even at the threat, so he plugged in the numbers. The device beeped twice so he pulled the cell away from his ear, examining the screen in disbelief, "Now that's weird. I've got no bars."

I shot a hand into my bag, pulling out my I-phone as well, only to be met with the same predicament. I frowned, "Mine too."

Yeah, I had a feeling trouble had officially begun. Great, and there was no Doctor in sight. Yep, totally screwed. I glanced at my new friend to see he was a little freaked, but kept it together, well that's a plus. No need to get hysterical...yet. "What do we do," he asked. Frowning I looked around at the poorly lit area. It was dark, damp, smelt like feet and fog blanketed the floor. Great, I warily stared at it, but moved my vision to the coaster cart. Considering the place would be crawling with props to trip and break our necks with, and strobe lights to temporarily disorientate us, the safest transport would be the car. "We could take the car till we see an emergency exit. All rides are required to have them by law. So we just ride it down till we see one and jump out. That way we don't break our necks by tripping over something. If not I suppose we'll just have to finish the whole ride."

He nodded agreeing with my ideas. "Ok. Sounds good. And when we get out we'll report that guy to a manager or who ever's in charge," he looked down at me, "I'm Spence by the way."

"Echo, nice to meet you."

He grinned, "And you. Now hopefully we can get out of here."

"Oh god, don't say that now somethings are bound to go wrong," I groaned. He just chuckled at my fatalistic attitude, "Oh nothings gonna happen except for maybe the grim reaper getting fired."

In the dark, I crossed my fingers behind my back superstitiously. I just wanted a fun quiet evening to forget all my problems and revelations and just be normal, no danger allowed. I only hoped the feelings I had was just me being silly. Walking over to the small black cart we shuffled into it, making ourselves comfortable on the black seats. Before we could figure out how start the thing the safety bars immediately came down on us. Squishing us tightly to the seats. I tried to get out, but found I was unable to as my legs were firmly stuck, practically cutting off their circulation. Spence shifted next to me as well having the same problem. Suddenly the car jolted forward down the tracks. I turned to glare at him, "You were saying?"

He appeared slightly unnerved but optimistic, "I'm sure if I could just move my foot a bit more to the right then maybe I could unpin it and release us."

Before he could try however the car started picking up speed. Getting faster and faster. So fast the wind started wiping my hair about. He clutched the bar tightly, "Aren't these things only supposed to go as fast as five miles an hour!"

"Yes, but apparently this one didn't get the memo," I yelled back over the noise, the screeching metal underneath. The car wound through the tunnel sending us back and fourth like rag dolls. By then we were zooming past the fake scares and props moving about fifty miles an hour. As we careened down the tracks Spence and I were screaming, holding on for dear life to the metal bars, when we spotted something alarming blocking our way ahead. "Oh god the tracks run into a dead end," Spence shouted, panicking. The dead end was a wall and a mirror covering what would be a doorway, it made things even scarier as we could see ourselves approaching the end. We both turned to the side screwing our eyes shut, bracing for an impact we knew would kill us, when suddenly we're slowing down.

I opened my eyes slowly and stared in disbelief as the car kept moving forward. The alarming part in was driving through the mirror as it stretched around us like rubber. Spence gasped from next to me when the mirror did something even more disconcerting. It was pulling us into the reflection! We both freaked out even more, scrambling to untrap ourselves from the safety bar in desperation. To bad the mirror had other ideas as weird mirror hands shot out, we screamed and struggled as we were fully pulled in. After that, everything went dark.

* * *

><p>(Doctor's POV)<p>

Something was wrong. That much I had known. What I didn't know was what. When I had gotten back to the TARDIS it wasn't just so I could put the bags away. I didn't want to worry the girls but there was definitely something wrong with the bloke from earlier. And I was a hundred and ten percent sure that Echo had noticed it to. Though there was something she hadn't noticed, neither of the girls had. There were missing posters on almost every telephone pole, all people having gone missing with the past few weeks in that area. So when I had gotten back to the console room I had run a quick scan. Just to be on the safe side. I didn't want to loose her so soon. She was to young, just a time tot. So I had to check. Unfortunately I didn't pick up anything reassuring. There was a huge spike in temporal energy coming from the wharf as well as a burst of activity on the akashic frequency.

So, sonic in hand, I had raced out of the TARDIS and followed the residual autron radiation wafting off Echo as a result of her almost regeneration, all the way to the carnival grounds. I spotted Martha instantly, coming off a ride and rushed over to her. But what I hadn't seen had me worried, "Martha where's Echo?"

She shifted uncomfortably at the urgency of my tone, "She should've been waiting on the railings but...well she went into the haunted house. Maybe it's just taking a bit longer than she thought it would."

Dread suddenly over took me when I found my senses assaulted by Echo's panicked fear. I grabbed Martha's shoulders, probably a bit harder than I had intended to, but her panic was causing some of my own, "Martha show me where that its right now!"

She froze at the bite of my tone, but I couldn't care about that right now. I shouldn't have split up from them, I should have made them accompany me. This was all my fault. Martha appeared a bit shaken but turned around to lead the way, "It's over here. Is there a reason for the urgency?"

"Right now Echo's emotions are coming off her in waves and she's terrified."

"But isn't that the point of a haunted house."

I shook my head as we plowed throw the crowds, my focus on several different things and a thousand different scenarios. "Martha, this is a cheesy carnival with low budget props. Echo's been going to haunted houses since she was a child, I don't think she would be as scared as she's projecting!"

"Wait, how do you know what she's feeling right now?"

I directed my screwdriver towards what I could see of the haunted house coming up ahead. The reader flicked open and my blood ran cold. I couldn't have ben bothered to explain complicated things to humans right then. "Martha it's a timelord thing that I don't the have time or the patients to explain right now because we have a huge problem."

She stilled, a look of panic over taking her, "Why?"

"Because someone has sealed off the haunted house with an eos (sounds like E-O's) field."

"Can you get around it?"

"Most definitely."

"Then what's the problem?"

I turned looking her dead in the eye, "Because I only know of one race that uses that technology."

"Well isn't that good? Doesn't that mean you know how to deal with them."

"No."

"Why," she asked. If only she knew. If I could just talk telepathically to Echo, get a message through. Dammit, why did something like that had to happen during her healing process. It was supposed to be an easy trip, not dangerous. I gripped my sonic screwdriver tighter in my right hand, gritting my teeth, "Because if they find out what she is we're all doomed."

* * *

><p>Sorry this is a two parter episode, I already have the ending planned but getting there is gonna be a pain but for you i'll do it :) after all i have over 4000 reviews! Thank you lovely readers! imagine if everyone reviewed, I'd have a coronary or something if i saw that in my inbox, lol :D<p>

NEXT CHAPTER: Mirror mirror


	9. Mirror Mirror

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

[BTW there are probably going to be some grammatical errors or misspelling since I rushed halfway through. Writers block had caused this story to take to long with an update and I was desperate to finish and move to the next episode. So sorry in advance.]

**Loulouflowerpower: **_Here's the update! Sry it took so long! TT_TT_

**Tutto-E-Lecito: **_Sry about the update time. And the foster care thing was a little inspired by that yes, I love that show as well. And about that tension, you'll see little snippets of it here and there but the good stuff won't happen till we see Donna, don't worry I have a plan, though there maybe some with jack I'm not so sure as of yet :) and thx for the consecutive reviews :D_

**Kawaiipandaz: **_I love halloween too! I have a plan when I'm an old lady to go out trick or treating as a kid with movie make up to look like an old lady :P I'll be gettin' the free sugars till I'm dead :D_

**Fanfreak4ever: **_One, I so invented them. They're latin by the way. Two hope you like it, I wasn't sure how well it translated from my mind onto computer. I hope it's ok. :)_

**TheBloodyPheonix: **_Yeah she is! :P thx for the fantiforuos review._

**Sieni1: **_Finally it is here! :D_

**Midnight Angel414: **_Thanks for saying that I hope it stays good. And oh so terribly sorry for taking so long but between writers block, school and the creative mistress strangling me to write more for my Sherlock series it's taken me waaay to long to get this done._

**RoseOfLannister: **Really! Thx :D hope you keep luvin' it!

**Grapejuice101: **_And here it is! Thank you for waitin'. :)_

* * *

><p>(Martha's POV)<p>

The Doctor paced, glaring at the rundown entrance of the haunted house. People passed by none the wiser of the present danger next to them on their Halloween outing. Though I myself didn't really know what the danger exactly consisted of, I just knew it wouldn't be good. I would love to have said I told you so but I don't think the Doctor would appreciate that sentiment or understand the context. Just then a manly scream erupted out of the building.

Unease settled deep in the pit of my stomach and flipped about apprehensively. On the one hand I was worried about Echo, but on the other I was a bit jealous of the intensity in which the Doctor was concerned about her. I knew I shouldn't be, she was my friend and she assured me there was nothing going on between them—but there was that little nasty voice in the back of my head that said otherwise. That there had to be some romantic feelings between them; especially now that he knew she was timelord. I mean how couldn't there be, they were the last of their kind. One male and one female. Do the math.

Of course, it was these thoughts that made me feel even worse. She'd done nothing wrong and I'd snubbed her whenever they'd get to close or he'd given her to much attention. She probably didn't even understand why I was acting any different. A growl escaping from the Doctor pulled me out of my never ending jealousy laden guilt trip. Furiously he ran his fingers through his hair causing it to stick up further. "Martha, I shouldn't have left her alone. But I didn't want to push her away by hovering. I didn't want to overwhelm her," he said as he turned to look at me, trying to explain his reasoning and persuade me that he wasn't to blame—though it was more likely he was trying to persuade himself that it wasn't his fault—which it wasn't. After all nobody knew the haunted house was full of aliens. Seeing that he was starting to lose it I decided I had to step in and be the voice of reason. I shook my head, "Doctor, it doesn't matter what you could or should have done. Right now the only thing that matters is finding Echo. The rest we can worry about later."

His eyes widened as if he were looking at me for the first time, like I wasn't just some tag along. But as soon as I spotted it, it was gone. He smiled softly. "Thanks. Now," he ran up to the bone laden doors standing about sixty centimeters away and aimed his sonic screw driver towards it, "I think it's about time I take down this field."

A second later the tell tale buzzing of his sonic kicked in, getting louder and louder the longer it was on. I was worried it was having no effect when suddenly a see through techni-colored film started to ripple, pucker, and bulge around the ride. As the noise grew the more the film seizured. Till finally, it retracted from around the building, disappearing altogether.

The Doctor stalked into the attraction(ride) ripping the doors wide open as he went. The room would be pitch black if not for the entrance behind us. A thick white haze pooled around our feet ominously. Looking past the darkness a dim spotlight was placed over the coaster cart ahead of us, beckoning us over, the only thing to greet us other than the screaming sound track playing in the background.

I watched as he walked over to the cart and soniced it. He flicked the metal rod open checking the readings, "That's odd, the safety bar locks trapping you in and…well that's not right. Why would they attach that…unless…Oh Echo what did you stumble into."

"What!? What is it?"

He threaded his hand once more through his hair as he got on the floor to examine the under carriage of the cart. "They have a waldo fused onto the paneling with retro feeds hooked into a takion excelarator, that would cause speed of light travel and break down the laws of physics. Why would they do that?! It'd blow a hole in the universe. Yet it was recently used and we're both still here so..." he reached underneath and felt around. I raised an eyebrow, "Waldo? Like where's Waldo?"

He briefly rolled his eyes at me before going back to work. "No, not the book. It's a remote control that's used to handle or manipulate objects. Which probably sent it down the tracks. Now, if I could just get a better look," He stated, rummaging through his coat pulling out a torch. Shinning it underneath he moved to pop something open with a creaky squeak. Suddenly he looked like he knew the answer to his earlier question, "Charged particle barricades, of course. That's why we're still walking around."

Alright. I was completely lost, but that sounded high tech and advanced. So what was it doing on a ride? "Doctor I don't understand what does all that stuff do," I asked. He got back up scanning it again, "No idea. I mean in all likely hood a bunch of nothing, except travel extremely fast, but it must have done something to scare Echo. So the question is, what?"

A ping resounded in the room. I shuffled to take a look but could barely see the Doctors reaction to his reading as the torch made him a black outline. What ever he found didn't seem very reassuring, "Oh."

"What?"

He turned towards me, a look of slight panic overtaking his features, "It has a bit rate reduction unit. This is-this is genius. But then that means…Martha we need to get in the car."

I huffed agitatedly at him. He was keeping information to himself leaving me out of the loop, again. Sometimes I think he forgets that everyone's not as smart as him, so they don't automatically know the missing pieces. "Doctor, could you please give a proper answer. What's going on? Where's Echo and what are we dealing with here?"

"She's traveled to another plane. As for what we're dealing with they're called the Speculum."

"The who?"

"The Speculum. They were a vain and over prideful race who would often set themselves up as gods to lower civilizations. The eternals—not a particularly nice people—took offense as their belief was that only they could be revered as gods and banished the Speculum to the realm behind reflections, cursing them to a half life. They would be forever starving, thirsty, and stripped of their form—taking away their vanity. It was a tale of caution when I was a child."

Well, they sounded delightfully friendly. How is it where every we go there was some alien threat seemingly waiting for us. Stifling a shaky sigh I took off the star glasses from my head, moving further into the room; over to the cart. Gazing at the Doctor, I rested my hand on the side but didn't get in. Seeing that he was upset I tried extending a hand out in comfort but he just shuffled out of my reach, bending back down to fiddle with the devices underneath. I frowned brushing it off, instead deciding to continue the conversation. "So they're trapped in mirrors?"

He poked his head underneath sonicing the undercarriage. "Don't be daft, they're trapped in reflections," he answered while poking his head back out, making slight eye contact before heading back to work. "Have you ever felt like someone is looking at you through a mirror or a puddle," he stated, "Like maybe there's another world on the other side of it."

"Yeah, when I was like seven," I peered at him skeptically, before realizing what he was trying to imply. "Oh, you're just pulling my leg you are. I think I'd see them if they were there."

"Martha, they no longer have a form so they steal the one looking at them, but it's only as long as your in the reflection. When you see them they'll look like you. Part of their punishment was that they could peer into the real world to forever taunt them with what they could no longer have."

"Wait, every time I look in a mirror they're looking back at me with my face!?"

"Not all the time. Only when you feel like some ones watching you when no ones there," He assured popping back up with a small mechanical piece in hand. He chucked it, the motion resulting in a shattering sound somewhere behind him. Grinning he leapt into the car and patted the open space next to him, "Come on now. I think it's time we rescue our pirate, don't you agree."

I jumped in after him nodding my head in consensus, smiling as his moods always seem to be a bit infectious, if not erratic, "Alright, but why use the car?"

He smiled pulling down the safety bar, then soniced the under carriage; sending us jolting forward. I looked over at him in amused disbelief when suddenly we began to pick up speed rolling over the tracks. I tried to swallow finding my mouth suddenly dry, "Doctor, I don't think these rides are supposed to go this fast."

"Hold on tight Martha we're about to go even faster," he yelled over the wind. Next thing I knew I was being slammed into the side of the car with the Doctor as we took a particular sharp turn. Soon we're being thrown about like rag dolls, swishing back and fourth like a washer on the rinse cycle. I was suddenly glad for the bumpy rides in the TARDIS, I had an easier time keeping myself from physical damage by my experience in the strange machine. I gripped the bar tighter when something alarming came into view. I grabbed the Doctors arm shaking it, "It's a dead end!"

"Yes, I can see that!"

"Well do something! We're gonna crash," I shouted bracing myself even though I knew it was useless. At the rate we were accelerating we were most assuredly dead. He placed a reassuring hand onto mine, "Remember what I told you, where the speculum are trapped."

"Yes, in reflections. But what does that have to do with anything!"

"Martha think! What are we headed towards?!"

I looked ahead. What was did he mean? OH! I gasped finally putting it together. We were headed straight for a mirror that the track ran right into!? But what he was suggesting was impossible. Yet, staring into his eyes I found myself falling into that deep sea of browns, as I often did, having to remind myself of the most impossible man sitting next to me. So of course that was exactly what we're about to do. "A mirror," I told him. He nodded his head right as we flew into it.

Next thing I knew my head was screaming and ears blaring, as the car braked on the tracks, sending sparks flying up around us. With a sudden stop we both smacked into the bar, to which I clutched my mid section in pain. That was definitely gonna leave a nasty bruise later. The Doctor hurriedly popped the bar up with a flick of his screwdriver, jumping out of the vehicle.

I was about to follow when I noticed the room in which we had traveled to. Well, I said room,but it was more like a grand hall. There were pillars lining each wall, each symmetrical—each angular and geometric in shape covered in thousands of interconnecting mirrors. Mirrors that extended to the high ceiling creating magnificent bowed arches. They ran all the way back down melding into the tan marbled walls and floor. Quite aways down the room, there were two large black decorated doors; the patterns intricately woven in what looked to be gold. Before the doors there were openings to other high ceiling corridors covered in more interlocking mirrors; the mirrors only absent on the marbled ground. I had felt like I was in some elegant Disney castle, albeit a sinister one.

My gaze returned back to the Doctor as he frantically waved the sonic around. Slowly I stepped out of the cart, waiting next to it since I was to afraid to approach him at the moment, "Doctor."

He spun around as I called, "Somethings blocking me Martha. I can't sense her. I should be able to by now. But I can't."

I paled, not really sure on the specifics of what that would mean but knowing that it was probably not helping the Doctor remain calm to think properly. I approached him in another—in what would probably be another wasted—effort to calm him down, "How are we supposed to find her then?"

He didn't answer. Instead he returned his attention to the sonic screwdriver as it beeped open with more readings. I watched—slightly hurt that he'd brushed me off in his worry—as he moved the device till it buzzed slightly louder when pointed towards one of the corridors. His shoulders sagged slightly in relief before becoming rigid once again, "I'm still picking up on the Autron energy coming off her. Which is the good news, it means we can find her. But there's significantly more of it now than there was earlier, most likely due to her earlier terror from traveling through the portal, which could spell trouble."

"How so?"

"In the likelihood her emotions become too extreme, coupled with the chemical reactions going on in her body, it could result in an explosion of raw uncontrollable energy."

I didn't like the sound of that. If that were to happen I shuddered to think of how the Doctor might react. But another thought came to mind, one that if answered yes, would send me straight onto that emotional train with him. "Will it kill her?"

He stilled, as if until then, that thought had yet to even crossed his mind, "No...yes-maybe. I don't know! If she were a normal timelord she'd be peachy keen. An explosion of energy was common place for those in their adolescence, though it wasn't something that happened often. It was especially more present in those going through what you would characterize as puberty. Due to all the extra chemical reactions and our bodies inhibitors not being fully functional during those stages our heightened emotions could cause a backlash of Autron energy. But things don't work the same with her. Factoring in her age, current physiology and mental trauma with a significant emotional strain any number of things could go wrong or not happen at all. I'd rather not find out which…Come on. We've already wasted to much time standing here."

Before we could proceed on our rescue mission, the door on the other end of the hall burst open with as much force as a big rig, slamming loudly into the wall—the huge boom sent me jumping five feet in the air. A large muscled man—a silver sheen to his skin—clothed as roman centurion marched forward, a silver staff with an opening on the end raised toward us. Before we could respond, a bolt of blue energy shot out of the staff almost hitting the Doctor. More followed.

Rushing back the Doctor grabbed my arm dragging us behind the car, ducking out of the line of fire. "And here I was hoping this would all be a misunderstanding and they'd be nice. Is it too much to ask for, nice aliens," I yelled over the explosions of hostile fire bombarding the car. The Doctor leaned his back against the metal, peering over to aim his sonic before jolting back into cover, "I did warn you that they'd most likely be less than pleasant," he quickly turned to look at me his face scrunching in offense, "Oi! I'm a nice alien!"

"No, you're an impossible alien," I shouted back laughingly. He smiled, finally I was able to get one out of him! That special twinkle in his eye and quirk of his lips he got sent my heart once more a flutter. How someone couldn't fall in love with this man I'd never know. Maybe that's why I always found myself so jealous of Echo when she seemed to carry all of his attentions. After all, if I could fall in love with him so easily in only one hour, than she could just as well, seeing as she had known him much longer than me—and thus had a better chance to gaining his affection. A lump formed in my throat as my stomach fell, finding myself falling into petty jealousy while my friend was in danger. If only Grams could see me now, probably give me a smack to the head for my thoughts—to set me straight. Unfortunately it wouldn't do me any good, the Jones women tended to have always been a jealous lot. And here I had hoped it might have skipped a generation.

"Crato, cease your firing you simpleton! You'll harm the portal, fool! You're not even hitting them! You're just wasting power," a nasally voice boomed over the assault, effectively ending it. The Doctor and I gazed at each other warily wondering what they'd do next. We turned around slightly, tentatively peeking above the cart. The beefy Roman had lowered his weapon snarling at the other slightly silver man who stopped him. I guessed the guy was either in charge or outranked him. The man who had stopped the attack was a short and pudgy, dressed as a pumpkin with mean beady eyes and a rudy face. It was a bit laughable that the people trying to kill us were wearing clothes that made them look utterly ridiculous. However I had manage to stop myself from doing so.

The plump pumpkin noticed us peering over at them. He sneered as if we were his inferiors, "Hello humans, it would appear that you've wander onto the wrong ride of the mirror. I must admit I'm curious as to how you stupid apes were able to gain access to our realm without our designation."

The Doctor popped up, standing tall with his usual showy candor, "Wellll, it's wasn't all that difficult really. Just had to reroute the retro feeds into the output compaciter, jerry rigged the waldo into the bit rate reduction unit using an ion filament and locked into the temporal frequency your portal there was generating. Then pulled the handle bar down and hung on."

The pumpkin appeared taken aback by the Doctor obviously superior intellect and general know how. I was assuming the pumpkin thought all humans not capable of such higher thinking, even though the Doctor was something much more rarer than a human. Not that the Doctor was gonna correct him. Something that left me wondering why. After all he did say something bad would happen if they knew Echo was timelord, so the same line of thought would apply to him. The pumpkin returned to reality sneering once more at us down his nose, "A shame I'll have to kill the only smart ape from that wretched rock. It's for the best I suppose. Crato."

Crato raised his weapon, but froze before he fired. Both men became blank, stuck in their positions, as their eyes glossed over becoming jet black. "Doctor what's wrong with them," I asked. He stared at them with scientific scrutiny, "Hive wave."

"What?"

"There speaking telepathically through a neurolink, except it's with more of a hive mentality. They're receiving instructions," he stated off handedly watching them warily, "The question is, what are the instructions."

Suddenly the black in their eyes faded away. Regained their mobility the roman growled agitatedly, lowering his weapon. The round pumpkin scoffed as he turned around, glaring at us over his shoulder, "I am to escort you to the royal court for an audience with the Queen. You will follow or I will authorize Crato to use force should you refuse. Something, I'm sure, he'd love for you to do."

Grabbing my hand the Doctor pulled me up onto my feet. Giving me a reassuring smile he turned to our escort, all earlier emotion fading from his face. The air shifted around us, becoming tense, "Good! Cause I'd like to have a word with her, you have something of mine that I want back."

* * *

><p>(Back to Echo)<p>

_Cold. Why was it so fricken cold. It shouldn't be so cold...or so dark for that matter. Where was everyone? No-wait I was just with a person. What was his name again? It started with and 'S'. He was dressed up because I was out celebrating Halloween, he was a ghostbuster. Yes, now I remember him. "Spence," I called out into the darkness. "Is anyone there? Hello…Doctor? Martha? Anybody!? Somebody? Can anyone hear me!?"_

_My words rang upon deaf ears, muted into the inky gloom surrounding me. Walking forward my foot steps loudly sent up noise, echoing away. I shivered crossing my arms around myself, running them up and down my sides in an effort to keep warm. Only the motion didn't even seem to generate much heat if any. Not that I stopped. A loud muffled voice reverberated out of the shadowy ether. Even though it was booming it hard to make out what was being said. "The subject...machine...two is ready...setting 42...what!?"_

_I ran towards the sound, trying to glean more of it. Who was talking? They didn't sound like anyone I knew. "…Active! Unauthorized jump-not us…all accounted for," voice two breathlessly informed. What was active? What machine? Who's accounted for? If I could just turn on a light then maybe I could see what was going on. Running towards the sound it seemed as if I was traveling no where through the pitch black, like I were running on an invisible treadmill. Picking up speed the far away voices became more audible. "We...send Crato…force," the nasally voice of number one commanded. Number two shakily asked,"What do we d-...this one?"_

_"-leave in chamber-for now…can't damage…to important-she'll have our heads."_

_A light appeared beckoning me fourth softly. Like it had been there the whole time waiting for me in the darkness. I made for it, following the voices emanating from the light._

_It must be a door. Should I be worried? Maybe, but I didn't want to be in the dark and cold any longer. It was suffocating me. Causing my heart to pulse faster. I needed out! "Why is she important," number two squeaked. "Bec-."_

My eyes blurrily shot open, temporarily blinded by the brightness. Focusing without much luck, I honed in on the blob like shapes before me. The orange one moved to my right—from my point of view I felt as if I might be strapped to a wall, which didn't bode well—it placed a pudgy hand onto a glass partition in front of me, "-ause, the Queen picked this body for herself. Do you know how long it took to find one she'd like!? This one's to fat, or this one's to thin, or this one's to freckled, this one's to nosey, or this one doesn't have enough hair!? Cause the one she wants has to be just right! I can't deal with her whining so if any damage comes to this thing I'll kill the bastard personally. So while I deal with our '_guests_' your to stand guard. Remember not a scratch, you hear!"

My vision started returning and outlines of blobs formed outside the glass. The one wearing black grabbed one of his arms submissively backing from the other one as he poked his chest rather aggressively, handing him some sort of staff. "Not. A. Scratch. I think even a screw up like you can manage that," the big orange one stressed as he turned away, disappearing from view.

Remaining calm I tried moving, only to find I couldn't. When trying to look down, my head refused to listen, stuck in place. Figured. But from what I could make of my body was that is was covered in a sheen of frost. Which explained why I was finding blinking to be such a labor. But I kept struggling. I had to get out of what ever the heck I was locked in.

Gazing outward from my prison, past the glass partitioning, I saw large cylindrical tanks lining the walls, halfway built into them—deductive reasoning said I was more than likely in one as well—the room, covered in ice and a low blanketing fog, looked like a cryogenics lab. Well, that was till I spotted the helmet with tubing and wires hanging inside the tanks from the top. So not a cryo lab, definitely something more sinister. I wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or due to the unsettling sight of fog but a shiver ran down my spine. Most of the pods were empty but a few were occupied. Lingered on one of them, my breath caught in my throat. Spence.

The helmet was fastened to his head. Needles punctured into his neck, chest, hands and ankles feeding some sort of silver fluid into his body. What ever they were doing to him appeared painful. His fingers fluttered at his sides while his head seizured even though he was frozen. Tears poured past his closed eyelids. A strangled noise emitted from my lips, catching the attention of the guard.

He walked over to the glass peeking in with trepidation. I looked into his pale brown eyes and he jumped back in fright. Like he was just as scared of me as I was of him. The bells on his hat jingled when he tip toed closer. He was wearing a costume as if he'd just been trick or treating—a gothic court jester—dressed in all black. He nervously wrung his hands against the pole he carried. His skin I noticed, and to my surprise, had a silver tinge to it. And, much like the base ball player from earlier, he had on dark eye makeup, which I realize probably wasn't make up. His face hovered close to the glass in curiosity. Hesitantly he tapped the partition a couple of times. Slowly, I moved my head to the side cracking off ice. The man instantly shuffled backwards all the way to the wall across from me, eyes wide in fear. For a bad guy he was sort of...pathetic.

Cautiously he re-approached, voice quivering, "Y-you're...awake.H-how?! Oh...I'm gonna get in trouble, I know it. T-this is gonna be my fault."

My hand creaked as I held it up to the glass, attempting and failing to bang against it, "...out."

He shook his head, "No. I-I can't. You're the Queens vessel. If anything were to happen to you they'd kill me. I-"

"I'll…hurt...m-myself. Big...guy...will get...mad. Not...a scratch, remember. So. Open. This. Door," I ground out the last part as my throat warmed. Mister Chuckles the chicken—as he would now be nicknamed, as his nose was a bit beakish—bugged, eye's practically popping out of his skull. He raced up to the glass waving his shaking hands in font of me, "N-no don't do that. Don't do that. Just be good and accept your fate. It'll hurt less that way."

"Fate. Fate has nothing to do with this and everything to do with you opening the damn door!"

Mr. Chuckles backed away submissively refusing to look me in the eye. I growled in annoyance. I wasn't just about to roll over and let them do god knows what to me, self preservation demanded it. Moving blueish hands up to my face, I positioned my fingers to rake against my flesh. Right as I was about to dig in he bolted forward. "Wait! Wait! Alright, I'm opening it! I'm opening it! Please don't scratch your face."

A blue see-through key pad accompanied by data readings appeared on the partition as his left hand pressed against it. Punching in a code the glass popped open. Shooting a hand out I gripped the outside of the container and struggled to pull myself out, ice fell off with the movement. Somehow managing, I took a tentative step out. Then another and another, but I had to take a moment to gain my bearings halfway though. My brain was sending the message to go, but I couldn't feel my extremities, the only indication it was working was the fact I was moving. Albeit robotically. Walking when half frozen was extremely difficult and weird.

Suddenly the world tilted off it's axis as I began falling backwards. A hand shot out landing on my back. Mr. Chuckles pushed me up with forward momentum. Causing me to stumble over to Spence's tube. I fell into the side of his tank with a thud hugging the glass to keep myself upright. I turned to the guard, "Open it."

He shook his head again, apparently a normal occurrence with him, "I can't the process has already started. If I open it he'll die."

"Then halt the process. What ever it is, just stop it," I demanded. If I could get him to stop then what ever they had done I could get the Doctor to reverse it when I found him. And I was going to find him! Where ever here was. I would not die there, and neither would Spence.

Mr. Chuckles looked like he was about to protest when I cut him off, "Tell me, will stopping it kill him?"

He shook his head. "Good then stop it," I ordered. He was about to say no, I could tell, so I raised my hand to my face once more in a threatening motion. He let out a pathetic noise and rushed over to the glass, plugging in some code as another screen popped up. Spence immediately stopped squirming, the tears halting. I sighed with relief at the sight, "So what is this place?"

"A-a conversion lab," he stuttered. I froze at the word. The unwanted images of the 2006 cybermen invasion popped into my head. Hastily, I pushed the awful memory away. Not now. Right now I needed to focus. If I could retrieve some information it might help the Doctor fix Spence. I thrust myself off the tank crossing my arms, "Conversion to what. Explain."

A sad nervous gleam painted his eyes, "You don't-"

"But I do. So talk," I interrupted, knowing whatever he was going to say would be unpleasant, but I had to know the truth. Lives depended upon it. He shuffled nervously facing one of the empty containers, "We just wanted it to end. Make the suffering go away. But as long as we remained cursed it would never leave...so our scientists began working on a solution, but the Queen grew impatient as time slowly ticked by. Demanding results...so they rushed. This was the outcome."

"What do you mean? What do the machines do?"

He hesitated not wanting to answer but continued when I curled my hand to my face. "They figured if we were to make new bodies we would be free but...the bodies never lasted long. So many died. And then our Queen saw an opportunity. Saw into your world. And with the help of our science we were able to cross over to your plane by bending reality to create a doorway in which we could take...take the vessels we needed."

He paused at my sharp intake of air. I stared in stunned disbelief and yet, I wasn't as surprised as I should've been. Still, how could they just take people and steal their bodies. What happened to the original person? What about them?! Alright Echo, lets not get ahead of ourselves, deep calming breaths now. Deep breaths. What would the Doctor do? (WWTDD? Lol, make that into a bracelet) He'd give them a chance, let them explain. So understanding, have to try to be understanding. There are two sides to each story. I had to hear his first before I got upset. Can't be quick to anger, I've never been in the past so why start. Easing away the last bit of tension I motioned for him to continue.

"The machine as you call it puts the body in stasis, stops it's bio-clock. Once it's finished with that it begins converting the human DNA to our DNA, so that way it's easier for us to fuse over into the host…when that's finished it goes into the final stage which...which erases the host consciousness leaving it empty for Speculum occupation."

I stopped breathing fixed to the spot working my way through what he'd said. Repeating it in my head over and over again till finally it snapped. The air around me crackle, but I hadn't notice, to busy watching the fear over take Mr. Chuckles face as I stood straighter. I moved forward my finger poised to point accusingly at him but he shot across the room out of reach, curling around himself against the wall as if to prepare for violence. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he apologized pathetically into his arms. His actions halted mine, confusing me, deflating some of the growing anger. My hand fell limply to my side, "You're sorry. You're sorry!…Why?"

He slowly uncurled himself at the questioning tone, frowning, "Because it's my fault."

"How?"

He hesitated, eyes darting around, like it were a trick question, "Because…well every thing's always my fault."

I eyed him seeing that he truly believed everything was his fault when I came to a sudden realization. Why hadn't I see it before—well, probably because I had been so focused on the kidnapping and murder part—but the way he behaved, his mannerisms, it all added up to one thing. Something that if I hadn't witnessed it before I wouldn't have put together. He'd been abused. Something I had seen during my foster years. It accounted for his submissive nature.

Slowly I approached him, only to have him flinch reflexively when I went to grab his arm. "Calm down. I'm not gonna hit you," I assured as I lightly rolled up his sleeve. A deep green and black bruise in the form of a hand wrapped around his forearm. Briefly I examined it, retracing the pattern, "What's this one for?"

He shifted uncomfortably looking away, "I deserved it. I distracted Ovid when he was synthesizing the last batch of Crystallin."

"I guessing that's the silver goop. How did you distract him?"

"I was in the room...why are you asking all these questions anyway?"

"Curiosity, interest, trying to understand, information gathering, take your pick. But what I really want to know is why are you guarding all of this. It's not as if anyone can escape," I asked motioning to the long cold empty corridor. "Because I'm wrong."

That raised an eyebrow, "How do you mean. Wrong about what?"

"During the first trails many didn't survive so only those deemed disposable were used. Something went wrong during the final stages of my process...I-well the original occupant of this body, some of his mind integrated with mine. I retained all of his memories, his emotions. It's fascinating, human lives," he stopped to check the room once before returning his attention, his face lighting up with concealed excitement—an emotion I wasn't sure he'd had till then, "The things I've-he's seen. You humans can grow up to be anything. They're life isn't restricted to one class or job, they can chose. They can learn! I saw...um Ardire-that's what this man-that's what his name...he went to this place with other people. They were taught so many different things! Spoke with others of different standing in equal status. It's amazing! It's-it's-."

He trailed off with instant regret covering his features. He must have thought I was upset due to my silence—I was, but that was because of earlier—no, I was silent because I felt sorry for the man. For the one who came before who's life was stolen, and for the man who stood before me now who I had a feeling only existed, but never lived. The fact that he got excited over something that most people received naturally spoke volumes of his upbringing. "Why stay? If you like that life so much why not just take it, leave this place, go live it," I asked genuinely curious. He shrugged staring at the ground, "No point. The Queen plans on sending out the first wave in two hours."

"That doesn't sound good," I frowned while playing with the ring on my finger absentmindedly. Okay so I have about two hours to stop something bad from happening, find the Doctor, and get out. Sounded simple enough. With a clap of my hands I started moving along the corridor, "Well, now would be a good time to find my friends. I'm gonna take a guess that they were the ones to set off your alarms, so if you could point me in the right direction."

"What, no! You can't leave, I'll get in trouble. If anything were to happen to you-," I clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing his fussing. I smiled, though it was mostly sarcastic, "Well I guess you'll just have to follow me then. After all big guy back there never said anything about where you were to watch me. So shake a leg there chuckles!"

With that said I waltzed down the hall stepping over the wires looping on the floor, wading through the icy vapors, as my new friend scrambled to keep up. It appeared like the conversion corridor could go on forever as the tanks lined the wall to infinity, most were filled with people—empty husks now—but one tank caught my attention. I approached it wiping off the frost to get a better view. The creature inside was at least seven feet tall, it's body, humanoid in nature, was colored a hollow white, it was so extremely thin that the bones protruded out from underneath the skin. Yet that wasn't the most unnerving thing about it—the creature had no face. The head was there but it was missing all the important bits, the eyes, brows, nose, mouth, ears, and hair—like a manikin used for figure drawing. I took a tentative step back and glanced at Mr. Chuckles, "Is that what you used to look like. Before the conversion?"

He nodded in response gripping the metal staff tightly, "Yes. I liked…," he stopped with a far away look, "I liked myself before they put me in here, didn't want a new body. I was fine, I had accepted my lot in life. Now...I'm the same but not. Everything has changed yet I'm still me. It's confusing. I knew who I was before, now I'm not so sure. It's-it's-"

"Terrifying," I finished for him. He looked up with wide eyes, "Yes…how did you know?"

Slowly, I started walking again, wrapping my arms around myself as he followed. I sighed sadly, "I myself recently went through a life altering change. Not by choice either. Truth is I'm the same way. I was fine with my life before everything went wrong. Don't rightly know who I am anymore, because everything is different. Usually I'm so good at adapting to new situations but this one I don't think I'll ever get over. Which isn't fair to the other person involved."

"How do you make the terrifying feeling go away?"

"Wish I knew. If you figure it out before me, please tell me your secret," I smiled. He nodded his head before a grin grew onto his face, it was beautifully tragic. I didn't think he'd ever smiled before because he appeared surprised by the action as he grabbed it with his hands before doing it again, excited that he could. It was very heart warming.

Stopping at a metal door on the right it opened at our proximity with a metallic whoosh. My heart jumped when a sudden presence enveloped my mind, the multitude of emotions almost caused me to cry out. Instead I took to leaning against the door frame for support.

"Are you all right?"

I waved chuckles off, pushing into the next room, "Yeah, don't worry about it."

The foreign emotions disappeared just as I gazed at the high ceilinged maze of halls surrounding me. It was like walking into an elegant house of mirrors. Every wall was covered in them. It would be breath taking if it wasn't so hauntingly creepy with it's emptiness. The presence still lingered as we navigated the corridors with no sense of direction. I knew what it was. There was only one thing it could be after all, the Doctor. He was sending waves of relief and comfort to wash over me, his way to let me know he's coming I believed. Like a virtual hug. I sent one back receiving a spike in happiness and relief from him. I chuckled softly to myself almost drunk with his glee, a grin forming.

My compatriot looked at me confused, almost unburdened from his earlier sadness, appearing much younger than before, "You're very odd."

I smiled at him, "I know. So are you, but that's not a bad thing. In fact it's a great thing!"

He returned my enthusiasm, my mood apparently infectious, as if we were old childhood buddies reunited. Though I was sure it mostly had to do with our camaraderie over our similar situations, both of us having to deal with being changed—my having to come to terms with being a timelord and him having to get used to being part human. Two sad pathetic peas in a pod.

I smacked my forehead realizing I'd missed something important. He jumped, still skittish, at the sudden sound so I patted his shoulder apologetically, "Sorry, it's just I forgot to ask something rather important...what's your name?"

He cocked his head to the side puzzled by the simple inquiry, "This man was called Ardire if that's what you're asking."

"No. What's your name, not his."

"I don't have one."

I paused mid step. How could someone not have a name. That just didn't seem right. I watched as he fidgeted at my mystified expression, "How can you not have one?! How do people address you?"

"Only the elite are allowed to have names. The rest are addressed by occupation. So I suppose my name would be slave or worthless. Depends on who's ordering me."

I swallowed carefully at the spike in anger bubbling up at the term and what it meant for him. Unfortunately that caused the Doctor to become more worried and upset, so I sent him a reassuring mental pat. Blowing out a puff of air I stopped him in the middle of the hall, "Nope, sorry. That just isn't acceptable. That is not a proper name. I'll just have to give you one."

I paused to see if he'd object, or become offended, only to find he seemed pleasantly excited at the prospect. I curled a finger and thumb around my chin in thought, "Let's see. Ardire was what the other person was named, which is Italian for courage. When I think courage I see lions and lions make me think of the astrological sign Leo. And that brings me back to lions. Lionel. Oh, yeah, that sounds nice. I like Lionel. I think that'd be a perfect fit. What say you Lionel."

Well, what ever he would have said, I believe I got the message as he suddenly flung himself forward, wrapping me into a tight hug. He laughed into my shoulder swaying us back and fourth as I patted his back awkwardly, "Guess I'll take that as a yes then."

After a couple of seconds I was going to politely disentangle myself when something wet moistened my shirt. Lionel's laughter soon faded as it segued into shuddering sobs against my neck. The staff dropped to floor with a clatter as he further wrapped his arms around my torso like a life line. All the years of pain and suffering finally breaking though the dam he hadn't even known he'd erected, broken by one act of kindness—probably the only one he had ever received. Instantly I clasped my arms tighter around him, rubbing his back in a soothing effort. I hadn't meant to make him cry, honest. I had no idea that would be the end result. And his being emotional was starting to make me emotional as I felt my eyes watering, which in turn was winding up the Doctor—where ever he was. When did I become such a sympathetic crier.

* * *

><p>(Martha POV)<p>

I couldn't believe we just let ourselves get captured. It may have been the easiest way to get to the bottom of things, but it couldn't have been the safest. After all, no alien would hide out in a haunted house kidnapping people for a good reason. Speaking of aliens. I shifted my gaze over to the Doctor who'd been uncharacteristically quiet since our capture. I knew he was more worried than he was letting on, but his face appeared so impassive that it was hard to tell if he was thinking anything at all. Briefly I wondered if he had been the same way when I'd been kidnapped. I'm sure he had been but I still wondered.

Crato, the behemoth, marched behind us. An unsettling fact, as I was one hundred percent positive the bloke was waiting for one wrong move so he had an excuse to shoot. He had a trigger happy look about him. And the pumpkin—who still hadn't given us his name—lead us through the labyrinth of hallways till we reached another extravagant doorway. Yet before I could admire the etchings a sudden intake of breath brought me back to the man next to me. The Doctor's eyes widened with surprise before he turned his head to smile, grabbing my hand; giving it a light squeeze—my heart fluttered with the action. "She's ok. Shaken but otherwise ok," he whispered. By some miracle I managed to not let my smile slip. For a second there I thought maybe he was going to comfort me, like how he did with Echo, but apparently that had been just wishful thinking on my part. Once again I found myself becoming irrationally jealous over nothing. I really needed to get a handle on my priorities. Suddenly finding my hand empty the Doctor walked with determined poise, his long stride picking up when the pair of the large black doors ahead magically opened by themselves. But what they opened up to was just…wow!

It was shining, bright, and ethereal. A white royal court, the walls made of some sort of reflective crystal I had no name for and pillars made up of some form of multi-colored energy that I suspected was similar to the barrier from earlier. The ceiling though was rather spectacular. It was a collage of reflections from all sorts of worlds but more particularly earth. Unfortunately that's where the grandeur of the room ended, because something inside was very unsettling. A malnourished faceless creature sat upon an unearthly glittering throne flanked by human like guards dressed for a costume party, weapons primed. Great.

"You shall kneel before the might of Queen Narcissus apes," the pumpkin ordered. A big muscular hand forced the Doctor and I onto our knees. "Listen mate, hands off," I spat to the roman, smacking his hand away. Immediately I regretted the action. His face contorted in anger as he raised a large beefy arm to strike. I shut my eyes tight waiting for the blow. "Stop!"

Opening them back up I looked for the one who had made the order. The faceless Queen dismissed the grunt with a tired wave. "Don't play with my things Crato. Go find a slave to entertain your self with, you're no longer needed in my presence," her female hiss reverberated through the air. Crato frowned, growling under his breath, but marched off. "You'll have to forgive him, he never did like sharing," the female hiss of the faceless Queen cooed. A fact that freaked me out beyond belief. How was she talking without a mouth! She turned her gazeless stare to the pumpkin, "Scientist Ovid you are no longer needed. Go and prepare my vessel for integration. I would prefer to be in shapely form as I conquer the pitiful ape planet."

Taking a deep bow Ovid exited the room, "It will be ready within the hour your grace."

The Doctor examined all the others in the room with narrowed eyes before regaining his usual composure. He stood up snapping his fingers, "So that's what you're doing. I had wondered what the Speculum would need humans for. Guess I have my answer. Did you even-."

"Silence worm! I only let your short life span continue upon a whim. I can just as easily have another," she threatened while gripping the arms of her throne. The Doctor eyed the people with weapons warily, firmly shutting his mouth. Stopping the angry words I'm sure would have followed. We all waited for her to speak. Seconds ticked by as if she was trying to work something out before she suddenly jumped up hissing loudly, "How do you know of the Speculum! None have such knowledge of us anymore!"

He examined her carefully before pacing in front of me, noting every exit and threat, "Oh, am I allowed to speak? Good. Because I have allot to say! I assume you've been stealing bodies for a while now, killing the human consciousness inside so you can inhabit it yourselves. Am I right," he paused for reply, "I'll take your silence as a yes. So now that you have your new bodies what will you do with them? Oh, come on give us a little preview. Who are we gonna tell! You'll just be disposing of us soon anyways. It's not like we could stop you. So why not tell us?"

The Queen sat there, I assumed watching us, stroking the arm of the throne languidly in thought. The silence that had fallen left a cold feeling in the air, causing a shiver to work it's way down my back. Suddenly the creature laughed, a weird combination of hissing and ethereal echoing as the human speculum next to her joined in. "Enough," she suddenly shouted, silencing the room. She crossed her legs in a manner supposed to be sexy but didn't quite work with her frame, "I find your human whinings amusing so I shall indulge you. With in the hour your primitive planet as you know it will cease to be. Our eos generator has been repurposed to produce a hyous wave that will engulf your puny planet. Basically in certain terms that you'll understand, those four pillars of light there will send out a DNA altering wave that will conform yours to a more compatible nature, resembling ours. Though you won't be like us. Instead you'll be mindless drones I'll control. And once this process is completed, we'll work you till you're nothing more than a stain on the floor, building us warships and weapons, creating us an army! From there we'll ravage the universe, bringing it to its knees. Restoring us to our rightful godhoods!"

The room grew silent with the vigor of her boasting. Her plans of grandeur and world domination sunk in. I could see something changing in the Doctor, coiling like a snake ready to strike, but he remained calmed. Something I found to be much more frightening. He paused before steadily gazing at the Queen, "Well, then I only have one thing to say to that."

The creature cocked her head to the side, amusement painting her undertone, "And what would that be?"

My timelord compatriot suddenly broke into a manic grin and aimed his screwdriver at the guards, "Bye!"

Next thing I knew things started exploding. The Queen began shouting as the weapons the guards carried burst into sparks and flames. The human speculum threw them away with shrieks of pain. "Run," The Doctor shouted as he grabbed my hand, pulling us into a mirrored corridor. Feet racing. "Where are we going," I asked breathlessly as we rounded a corner. He shouted back, rushing us forward, "To find Echo and get out!"

"But what about the Speculum?! They're gonna kill every human on the planet!"

The Doctor pulled us around another corridor, "Don't worry. One thing at a time. I'll figure out the rest after."

Well, I was glad he had that covered, note the sarcasm, but I'd like to be in the loop at some point. I didn't understand why he never felt the need to explain. Was it really too much to ask!? I understand that some of the scientific jargon would fly right over my head but shouldn't I at least be given a chance to find that out for myself. As we spun down three more corridors I was about to voice that thought when the Doctor suddenly stilled. Sending me careening into his back. "Ow. Why'd we stop?"

The Doctor stalked forward, his screwdriver raised like a sword, "Get away from her!"

* * *

><p>(Echo's POV)<p>

"Get away from her!"

Lionel tensed at the sudden shout, pulling away his tear stained face just in time to see the Doctor storming over. He panicked and fumbled to grab his staff, perceiving a threat. I gently placed a hand on Lionel's chest to keep him back, "Don't worry it's ok."

Turning my attention back to the two, I held out my other hand towards the oncoming Doctor, "Oi, no need to get menacing you. This here is my buddy Lionel, he was helping me escape to find you but well it would seem you found me. Which is rather convenient since I need your help fixing my buddy Spence—I know I made two more friends how exciting but I digress—he's back in the conversion room. So-umph!"

A face full of Doctor cut off my response as he rocked us into a bone crushing hug. The worry he had felt rolled off in waves as he kissed the top of my head. A platonic affection that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. But we all have our crosses to bear I supposed.

Martha cleared her throat to gain our attention. I peeked over the Doctor's shoulder and waved at her. She smiled in relief but I could tell she was in a rush by the tempo in which she tapped her foot. "Right, not that I'm happy to see Echo safe and sound, but shouldn't we get moving before the royal guard finds us."

"Yes! Of course, thank you Martha. Come on Echo it's time to go," the Doctor informed as he grabbed my hand pulling me forward, heading in the wrong direction. I ripped my hand away from his. Or at least I tried to but he refused to relinquish his grip. Instead I stopped moving forward causing him to come to a halt. "Doctor as much as I'd love to blow this popsicle stand your forgetting we need to go and help Spence. Lionel stopped the process but we couldn't take him out. He in the other direction. I just need you to work your time man magic and fix him and…."

Trailing off I came to a grim realization when the Doctor refused to look back at me. His jaw firmly set in a hard line, body ridged, his mind quickly cut mine off from his emotions before I could truly get a handle on them. "Y-you didn't forget….you weren't even going to try. Please tell me you weren't going to do what I think you were going to do!? Doctor-"

"Echo we don't have time for this. We need to move. I promise you, after you and Martha are safely back in the TARDIS I'll come back and get him but right now I just need you to do as I say," he stated curtly, cutting me off. I shook my head in disbelief, "I may not be as smart as you Doctor, but I know bullshit when I hear it. What makes you think they'll even let you back through the portal, to this plane! And don't even say you'll use the TARDIS. A type 40 TARDIS doesn't have the required specifications or the technology to make a materialization of that magnitude. Now if the eye of harmony wasn't destroyed maybe-."

I froze, wide eyed, realizing what I'd just said. Talking about things that I'd never known before, that I shouldn't know, but did. The information glitter by, slipping into my mind before I'd even realized it. A memory, of little fingers flipping through an old manual that had fallen from a book shelf full with them, bubbled up. The man from my earlier nightmare entered the room smiling, laughing at the mess the toddler had made as he picked her up, hugging and kissing her. It took me a second to realize that the toddler was me and that the man was probably….probably my father. As my heart constricted with a crippling sadness and fear, my brain was muddled in panicky confusion. The Doctor turned around to face me. Looking on with worry and hope that masked the awful decision he was making underneath.

"You remembered something."

It wasn't a question but a statement. He could tell I had. It was something I didn't want to talk about and thankfully there was another topic that could bring me away from the one he was trying to bring up. It was cowardly but there were more pressing matters than my addled memory. "Don't try and change the subject. All we have to do is turn around to help. I don't understand why you're being so stubborn."

"Because things have changed."

"How!? How have things changed? Because of me? Because I'm different now, is that it?! So what, now when I'm in danger your going to run and hide me away ever time we go out. And forget about all the Spence's we come across?"

"Yes," the Doctor stated in a no room for argument manner. Something I found rather irksome. What was with him! He'd never been like that before. But the again I didn't really know him did I. We've hardly been traveling together for a week so how could I. "Doctor, you can't pick and chose who you want to save. It doesn't work like that! If you start doing that then what makes you any better than the people you try to save the universe from. If you cross that line then you're not the man I thought you were. You're not the man who tells time where it can shove it, who tries even when it's hopeless, the man that always gives people a second chance even when they don't deserve it."

"I can't save them all," He shouted causing me to flinch as if it were a physically strike. Martha looked at the Doctor with a conflict of sympathy and anger, her blind love for him muddling her judgment. I shifted my gaze down to the floor demurely, "I know….but you can always try. You always try…."

Damn that sounded pathetic. When did I start sounding like that! I needed to be more me. After all, Ali always said people had a hard time telling me no. And I understood that the Doctor was coming from a place of fear right then, but I needed him to get his head back in the game because mine definitely wasn't. Mine felt kind of sluggish and hot. "Echo are you alright?"

Turning around towards Lionel I gave him what I had hoped was a reassuring smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just-are you sure there's nothing you can do?"

He frowned twisting his fingers together, "N-no. I'm sorry. I wish I could help but someone of my position isn't allowed such knowledge."

"I'm sorry guys but we really need to get moving on," Martha cut in as she looked over her shoulder once more. Reminding us again of the situation. The Doctor took a moment becoming extremely quite as he worked through something in his head. Before I could object about leaving without Spence he suddenly focused in on me and grabbed my face between his two hands sensing my protest, "Echo, before you kick up a fuss I need you to listen to me. We need to leave. There are more things at work right now than you're aware of and I need you to trust me and do as I say. I promise you, I will come back for your friend after you and Martha are safely across the portal. So please."

I wanted to believe him, I did, but people had broken promises to me before. Yet finding myself again faced with those old chocolate eyes I felt my earlier resolve crumble. I sighed and nodded in acceptance. After all, he was being reasonable while I was starting to act a little irrational, more with my heart and less with my head. "Alright. But," I walked over to Lionel and grabbed his hand, "I'm not going anywhere without Lionel. So he's tagging along."

"Echo he may look human but-" I stopped the Doctor right then, "I know. But he's different. He wants a chance to learn, to have conversations, make friends, have fun. All the things normal people get to enjoy."

The Doctor looked between the two of us, reading Lionel who shifted nervously under his gaze, and judged weather or not I had made a mistake of character. Shifting his attention back over to my new friend he walked over to him, assessing him further, before breaking into a small smile. "Alright, Lionel who wants to learn, you can come."

"Really," Lionel asked with hopeful trepidation. "Of course but not your weapon. The weapon stays," the Doctor added before pulling out his screwdriver, "and now that that's over with, it's time we left."

Taking the lead the rest of us followed after, Martha taking point next to him. They instantly began talking in hushed tones to each other. I should have probably care, but I already knew they were conversing about me, didn't take a genius. I guessed there was more going on that I wasn't allowed to know. That or Lionel wasn't allowed to know. But it didn't matter at that moment since it meant the Doctor wouldn't be breaching the timelord topic I was trying to avoid. It wasn't that I was never going to talk about it, I'm sure I'd ask him about it one day, but right then I just needed to wrap my head around the foreign concept cause it was slightly frightening. Change always was. Yet, that change came with a certain stigma from what the Doctor had told us in New New York. A responsibility I wasn't sure I was ready to except. I was quite satisfied with being a small time artist who sold the occasional piece to pay for supplies and rent. Being the kind of person who lazed about and made a web comic that no one really read. A person who could shirk her responsibilities because she had none, the beauty of being self employed. Though there was a time I had considered a career, something in criminal forensics or a detective maybe, but for some reason I never pursued it. Never knew why.

"Halt!"

We all stopped at the foreign voice. Spinning around I spotted an unlikely person and, at first, I was quite happy to see them. "Spence! How did you-," but I stopped upon noticing a problem. A big one. His skin had a silver tinge to it. That, and he was holding a staff towards us, flanked by two other guys. One was dressed as a pumpkin and the other a roman. I stared in disbelief, "No….please, you can't. He was-he was supposed to be saved."

Just then another group blocked us from behind, each dressed in costume, boxing us in. "Kill them," the pumpkin instructed. The guards lifted their weapons up. "Wait! You kill them and I'll hurt myself see," I screamed raising a hand to my face once again. They all stopped. The pumpkin turned his attention to me and sneered, "Why do I care if you hurt yourself, I just need you alive."

"Yes, but how do you think your Queen will react when she finds out her shiny new vessel has a scratch. Rather violently I would imagine."

The orange guy paused for a second at my quick excuse, before sending a glare in my direction, "Holster your weapons."

"Scientist Ovid we don't need them-," the roman growled jerking around to address him. "Shut it Crato! I'd rather not get beheaded because her stupid vessel gets damaged do you!?"

Crato scowled but looked away conceding. Ovid gestured to us, "Grab them."

The guards marched forward as I backed up next to the Doctor and whispered over to him, "Hopefully that bought you some time to find a way out of this cause I've got nothing."

He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in front of him so that my back was leaning against his chest. He whispered lowly into my ear, "What ever you do don't let them know we're timelords, but mostly remain calm. I can't be more serious. What ever you do, _remain calm_."

Before I could ask what he meant by that, a guard wretched me from out of his grip and pulled me away with the others down a corridor, but thankfully, not towards the conversion hall. The rest trailed behind without so much as a struggle.

* * *

><p>I was becoming worried. As we were lead throughout the mirrored hallways the Doctor's emotions lay hidden from me, leaving a cold black empty space in my head. He had yet to try anything to remedy our predicament and as we neared two large ebony doors—etched in Corinthian stylings—I had a feeling things were about to get worse. They opened with an invisible hand, the light behind them blinding as we were forcefully dragged in.<p>

When my eyes readjusted they widened at the massive glittering throne room before me. Flooded with human Speculum on each side of the silver walkway in the middle of the room, the doors slid shut with a boom behind us, sealing us in. One of the white skeletal speculum I had seen in the tanks sat upon a throne gripping the arms. It almost broke them as it stood up, "What are the other apes doing alive!"

It's strange hissing bellow had all the aliens flinching. It lolled its head around as it approached Ovid coming to a stand still centimeters before him. In a flash it struck him across the face. "I asked a question."

He stiffly turned to face it, "Your highness, the vessel threatened to harm itself if we killed them. I thought you'd rather it be in perfect condition."

"Well, at least you're not a total fool," it chuckled gravely as it saunter in front of me, "and as for you. Quite the handful you are. Figuratively and literally."

It moved a withered bony hand to caress my side. What the f-. I jolted backward and smacked its arm away but instead it grabbed hold of it pulling me close. It hissed into my ear, "Oh, I'm going to enjoy wearing you. It's been to long since I had shape."

It pushed me over to Ovid who held me in place. "Hurry up and hollow it out. Our assault begins soon. And as for the traitor," the creature rounded it's faceless gaze to Lionel, "What do you have to say for yourself slave?"

Lionel mumbled as he tried to back away, avoiding her stare. She shot an arm out wrapping her fingers around his throat lifting him off the floor, "What was that I didn't hear you?"

Instantly I tried to break free of the steely grip keeping me captive as it tried to force me from the room, "Leave Lionel alone! Let go of him you bony bitc-"

"Oh is that it! She gave you a name? Is that all it took for you to betray your kind, a name," it dropped him and he fell to the floor coughing. It hunched over before pulling up to let out a loud howl of laughter. "How pitifully sad! A stupid human named you like a pet, I bet you were so eager to please your new master!"

As I watch helplessly my heart began to thunder inside my chest and a light sweat accumulated upon my brow. My head once more became hot and muddled. Anger coiled deep in the pit of my stomach at how she talked to him. The Doctor shot me a warning look but I had promptly ignored it, to focused on Lionel at that moment. Lionel who gazed over timidly at me before something changed inside of him, like something had become unchained. His quaking stopped, he stood up straight, his hands were balled into fists, and he looked right at the creature. "T-they're not stupid an-and I'm not some pet. Please, if you'd just listen I could show you what I've seen. How they live. They're amazing creatures! If you would just review the memories of the one who came before me you'd see what I mean and you'd realize you wouldn't need to destroy them. You'd see we could peacefully coexist with them."

He breathed heavily as his arms began to slightly tremor, having just realized he'd stood up to the speculum ruler. It stalked over to him hovering close to his face. Suddenly a large black orb became slightly visible in the middle of it's faceless face as Lionel's eyes glazed over in blackness. A long silence followed.

Briefly I noticed the Doctor whisper something into Martha's ear, but I couldn't seem to tear my gaze away from the spectacle in front of me. Lionel was standing up to his biggest fear, embracing his difference and trying to teach the others a new way of life. I only hoped I could do the same with my own life when the time came. The creature took a step back as the blackness faded from the both of them. "I see now…," it trailed off cupping his face with a hand almost affectionately. Lionel blinked with surprise and looked up with hope, "Really?"

It nodded, "Yes. I see now that your not some defective experiment….you're an abomination!"

Faster than anyone could process what had happened the speculum ruler pulled it's other arm back and then shot it forward through Lionel's chest. A loud sickening crunch reverberated throughout the room as silver liquid pooled from the opening. Lionel looked down at the arm stuck through him shakily as he couched up silver blood, surprised that it was there. He slowly lolled his head—with great effort—over to me, eyes full of sadness as choked for air, "I-I-I'm ssorry."

His body crumpled forward as he took one final breath, the creature pulled its arm out and Lionel fell lifelessly to the floor. I stared on in horror and shock at the sight, barely breathing at first, before my chest heaved up and down with increased speed in tandem with the pounding in my skull. My eyes blurred with tears that so desperately wished to fall. "Ovid why is my vessel still here, hurry and put it in the conversion chamber! And would someone remove this disgusting thing from my sight! It's staining the floor," the ruler screeched. "Alright you, get moving-ouch," Ovid hissed as he pulled his hands off me, "What the-."

I gripped my head as I pitched forward, my body starting to shake uncontrolably. God it hurt so much, almost similar to... I heard a collective gasp make it's way throughout the room. "Martha I need you to make a run for the portal," I heard the Doctor command. "Doctor I can't just leave-."

"This isn't up for debate! Now go!"

"F-fine!"

The world around me seemed to be to much, over loading my senses so I desperately tried to push it away. But it wasn't just my head, soon it was my whole body. It felt strange like I was compacting inward getting tighter and tighter yet there was this thing inside me that just wanted to explode outwards, to relieve the pain—make it go away. Make it stop. I had to-I had to-I had to let go! "My vessel! My vessel isn't an ape...it's a timelord! Kill it, kill it!"

It was at that precise moment I gave into the pain and for one small second it vanished into euphoria. I blinked in awe at the mirrored ceiling above, watching as strange colored wisps interwove between the people I was watching, that hadn't been there before. Then the thing coiling inside sprung outward with a scream. Exploding with an untempered force and a rage I never knew I had. It was hot and angry and so so sad. It was almost to much to bear. And the screaming, it wasn't just my screaming, it was others as well. Suddenly the man with the steel eyes was back. Back where I left him on the fiery battle field.

_The Daleks beam pierced his side causing his skeletal frame to appear and disappear as he screamed in agony. He fell forward, still carefully clutching the bundle in his arms. As the Dalek marched toward him he pulled out a staser and fired back till the top component exploded. With great effort he heaved himself up dragging the two of them inch by inch, ever closer to the awaiting TARDIS. Stumbling into the burnt interior he stepped around the exposed wiring, sparking about, as well as the dead bodies of the pilots on he floor. Moving over to the jump seat he place the bundle into it, strapping it in. A tendril of red hair fell from out of the blankets as the face of a toddler looked out of them covered in ashes and blood, quaking in fear, big blue eyes pleaded with the man. It was then I realized I was watching a memory of myself from a point of view that wasn't mine. A strange occurrence. Younger me started to tear up as the steel eyed man fumbled over to the controls twisting and pulling devices as he set coordinates. All he needed to do was pull one more lever when he walked over to younger me and knelt down before her._

_Wordlessly he gave her two rings, one of which I still wore on my hand—the other had disappeared from my room years ago and I now wondered if it really had gone missing—he then said something. For some reason I couldn't hear the words, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make them out over the explosions from outside the TARDIS. But younger me's face said it all as she started to cry uncontrollably. He placed his hands upon her head placing a kiss to the temple before his face contorted in concentration and young me screamed in agony. Suddenly she slumped over and he backed off breathing heavily. The Daleks shouting outside caught his attention. He pulled himself over to the exit and took one last fleeting look back before he disappeared out into the fray. The lever fell down with an invisible hand as the TARDIS flew into the time vortex unmanned. It spun and jolted back and fourth as sparks arched across the room, raining down from above. The exterior being torn to shreds started to expose the control room to the vortex, sucking out the body on the floor. The TARDIS cried in agony and frustration as it tried to keep it self together, as it tried to protect its precious and final passenger. It- "_Echo!"

I jolted out of the memory as my screaming lessened. Through my tears I saw the Doctor approach, hands shielding his face, wading through the golden energy emanating from me. "I need you to calm down."

"It hurts. It hurts so much. Too much," I whined gripping my skull. "I know. I know, but I need to breath into it. Try and clear your mind, let go of the anger. That's it, you're almost there. Just a little more."

The golden hue dimmed from the room as my shoulders slumped with even breathing. The Doctor immediately rushed forward just as my legs gave way, catching me before I fell. He hooked an arm underneath my knees pulling me up bridal style before I even had the chance to comment. An explosion rocked the room as one of the pillars burst open, the others cracked, spitting out pressurized energy that would soon explode from it's casing as well. The walls and floors were damaged, blackened and shattered, but that wasn't what had me hyperventilating. It was the corpses strewn on the floor, those closest to me were the worst—skin bubbled, boiled and burnt. Their faces stuck in a perpetual scream. God what had I done? How did I even do it?!

As the Doctor raced out of the room another explosion ripped throughout the area, the whole place crumbling down around us, glass shattering to the floor. I could hear the Speculum ruler screaming in rage after us, "Murderer! Butcher! I will destroy you! I will find you and slaughter all you hold dear!"

I wrapped my fingers tighter into the Doctor's jacket smooshing my face into his shoulder. Her words stung deep. I had killed-I'd killed those people and I don't even know how? "Martha what are you doing! I told you to get to the portal!"

"I know. I'm sorry, but I was worried something may have happened. The whole place is falling apart! Is she ok," Martha yelled over the noise. The Doctor continued to sprint down the corridor, "Just get to the portal!"

The Doctor shifted me a bit so he could pull out his sonic from his coat. It buzzed loudly next to my ear. "Go, go, go, go, go," he shouted. A couple seconds later I was shoved into the same roller coster cart that had brought me there. Martha and the Doctor squeezed in next to me and they pulled down the lever. Quickly sonicing the cart we were pulled back almost smashing my face into the hood. The cart started down the track, traveling backwards. The mirror, or portal, pulled us in just as another loud explosion resounded. The walls before us started bursting with technicolored energy. Martha's eyes widened in fear, "What the bloody hell is that!"

"That Martha, would be the unfortunate result of eos particles mixing with an explosion of autron energy. Which is why," shattered mirrors ricochet before us as the one we were being sucked into morphed around us, "once we get back into the attraction we need to clear out of it as quick as possible."

"Why," she asked just as we breached the other side, entering the haunted house. The cart raced down the tracks as a rumbling followed. "There's going to be a backlash."

The car screeched around corners, winding faster and faced back down the tracks till it pitching us forward as it came to a crashing halt at the darkened entrance. Ripping the bar off, the Doctor grabbed my hand and dragged us over to the closed door waving his screwdriver. My legs wobbled but I managed to keep upright.

With an aggravated growl the entrance popped open and we dashed out into the night, practically stumbling into an empty carnival. The few that were there wandering around sent us strange looks, but kept on going about their business. Before a word could be uttered a burst of energy exploded the ride, propelling us forward into the ground, raining bits of wood down upon us. "Martha," the Doctor called. Slowly she moved a broken board off her with a cough, "I'm fine."

"Echo?"

I shifted, heaving myself up, "No injuries."

"Well then, we best be moving before the authorities arrive," he advised while helping Martha to her feet. Looking to each other in agreement we rushed off, melting into the gathering crowd. Sirens blared in the distance. A lonely shard of mirror lay unnoticed in the rumble. A white creature banged it's fists against the fiery reflection before fading away.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS control room lay idle in the time vortex. Quiet save for the rhythmic hum of it's sentience. I sat with my head resting between the tops of my knees on the jump seat. Alone with my thoughts; thinking of all the should have, would have, and could have's. I was glad for the isolated space, happy that the Doctor had gone to find Martha a room for the night, and thankful that it was taking him some time to find it. I chalked that last bit up to the TARDIS rearranging corridors having possibly sensed my need for space. Though I realized in entirety it wouldn't last forever and was only a small reprieve from what was going to most assuredly come when the Doctor found his way back.<p>

It was then that the seat dipped with added weight. I didn't need to look up to know my reprieve had ended. I could smell his usual calming fragrance of male spice and time from my perch. A small silence ensued before he finally spoke. "We need to talk."

"I know but I was rather hoping to avoid it," I mumbled into my knees. "Running away, now there's a topic I know a lot about," he said bumping his shoulder into mine. I still didn't look up, though I appreciated his attempt to lighten the situation. "But this isn't something you can run away from."

"I know."

"Then why are you," he asked. I tighten my arms around my legs, "You should know," I mumbled, "you can feel my emotions."

"I only know generals, not the source of your fear or your pain. You have to let me in or I can't help. Please," He asked placing a hand on one of mine. I peeked at him from out of my red fringe, now dressed in his usual blue suit he waited patiently. With a shaky intake of breath I tried to form the words but they wouldn't come out, like they were to scared to be spoken. He smiled reassuringly, "Take your time."

I momentarily hesitated before trying again, "I….I've never really hurt any one before and….and today I-I-….I killed those people. I mean I never thought I'd-I took a life. It's not even something that I'd imagine I'd do in a million years but I did it. And I know they weren't human anymore, that they were trying to kill a bunch of people but I still-it still doesn't feel right. And their faces I can't get them out of my head, I can still smell the burnt flesh, hear the screaming. W-what if one of those people were like….were like Lionel. And I-," I turned to look at the Doctor as one or two tears slid down cheeks, "Why did he say he was sorry? Why! If it wasn't for me he'd-he might have lived. If I'd just waited for you to find me and stayed in that tank then maybe he'd be-….he didn't deserve to die-."

My voiced tapered off thick with emotion as the Doctor swiftly pulled me in for a hug. I gripped his suit as I, against my own wishes, began to cry into his vest. Somehow I refrained from letting out the wails that desperately wanted to escape. The Doctor rubbed my back as he spoke into my hair, "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not. It's mine. There were things I should have told you, but I didn't wish to push you away or scare you off. I was afraid if I did you might ask to leave and I don't know how I would have handled that….I don't know if I'd have let you go. I see now that I should have said something, explained things a bit. But since you see yourself as a human adult when in reality by timelord standards you're actually a child I didn't think you take well to what I'd have to say."

"Doctor, I don't think that now is the time to-. I'm twenty-four I'm not a-"

"You are, but I know that your situation makes things rather difficult. Time lords aren't consider adults till their late nineties due to our species longevity. Which is why I'll have to make adjustments as not to strain our relationship. Though I'm sure there will be times where that may happen, but I assure you it's only because I care," he paused for breath, waiting for a protest, but none came so he continued, "There are a lot of things I need to teach you about our kind, but more pressingly about our biology. What happened back on the Speculum plane, that was a response brought on by stress and body chemistry. It's something I can help train you to prevent till you've reach full maturity and it goes away."

As time passed and the Doctor went on and on about timelord make up, segueing into culture and history, most of the time I just listened. Some of the time I argued or protested since I found myself quite agitated from recent events and I didn't wish to talk about things, but knew it was necessary. Other times I nodded or added some of my own input. And as this was all going on the pain and sorrow I felt seemed to slowly get pushed to the back of my mind. It was there but no longer all consuming, a private pain that would no doubt haunt me for the rest of my life, I felt the emotional wound beginning to scar. It was weird, but it was like the more the Doctor spoke the better I seemed to feel. By no means was I over it, but he made it bearable. It was something I didn't think I'd ever be able fully thank him for.

* * *

><p>Again so sorry it took me so long to update. If it's any consolation this was 26 pages long. I'm sorry for any misspelling, i haven't slept in two days and i'll probably find a bunch of stuff to fix when i wake up. next ep. should take so long as it's an actual episode and not everything has to be scratch.<p>

**Next Episode: **The Lazarus Experiment


	10. The Lazurus Experiment

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

[BTW there are probably going to be some grammatical errors or misspelling since I rushed as this was taking me too long. Sorry]

_(If you want to see what Echo's outfit looks like there are links on my profile :)_

_**Midnight Angel414:** Sorry for the wait, I've been caught up with my own original work that it's taken me to long to get back her so sorry :) And thanks for being so religious about reviewing, especially since this one seems to be declining in review O.O I know Le Gasp!_

_**BlackMoonWhiteSky:** thx for the review. And I liked lionel to but for plot purposes he had to die or else she'd never explode! I tried thinking of a believable way but that one seemed to be the best option :( sorry._

_**SarcasticRaven:** My sherlock Fic will be updated next :) so keep an eye out for that. and thanks for checking out my other stuff :D_

* * *

><p>Inside the TARDIS there was a magical place filled with winding staircases that seemingly lead to forever, with levels and levels of floors, millions of books on everything imaginable and little quiet hideaways scattered here n' here. And in those cozy little places one could read a good novel with no interruptions. They were as unique as snowflakes, no two were the same. Each one was seemingly hidden that you might accidentally miss them upon first glance, especially as some involved secret doors and walls that could only be accessed by pulling out a certain book or stepping on a certain panel. It was a lot like traveling through a mystery house or an Agatha Christie novel. And one would call this mystical place the library. A world in it's own right.<p>

Which was where I found myself, stowed away in a niche behind a bookcase, reading a text the Doctor had handed me. And, by handed, I meant he practically thrust it into my arms as he speed walked past me in the hall earlier. I only understood why he ran off when I caught sight of the tittle, Puberty to Adulthood: A Timelords Body. I almost dropped the book, but after the somewhat shock and embarrassment had subsided curiosity took hold. I mean I wasn't really a timelord, I just have the potential to become one from what the Doctor had explained, though my biology was essentially the same as his. Meaning it should follow the same path and guidelines as one. Which was why I wondered what that might entail exactly since the Doctor had skipped most of that topic. It was a little to embarrassing on both ends to go through it all during our long chat.

Some of the subject matter was very, lets say, interesting. Especially since from what I'd gathered about timelord culture was very full of pomp and pageantry. A race that often believed themselves to be above the other species and their rituals, kind of hoity toity. Which was why one chapter came to a huge surprise. Lets just say the Karma sutra had nothing on timelord ingenuity. So as I sat there blushing furiously at the visual instructions, the TARDIS suddenly began to quake. Looking up I shut the book just as a few old black and white picture frames fell off the victorian wall, shattering onto the floor. With a sigh I grabbed my original bag, having since change from the earlier ordeal, and pushed the door open, leaving my comfy hideaway in search of answers. Like for one were we crashing or was the Doctor just messing around with the TARDIS's console systems again, like he did on our second day idle in the vortex. A few days reprieve or rest was something he felt I needed, but apparently it was something he couldn't manage himself very well. The man just couldn't sit still for very long as Martha and I both learned from the past five days.

So having sensed my need for answers the TARDIS kindly rearranged the library. I knew this because as I turned a corner the exit was right on my immediate left, not where I had originally entered it. I patted a shelf as I walked by. "Thanks. You wouldn't happen to be able to get me closer to the console room would you," I asked the sentient machine not really expecting a reply. From behind the door I head a familiar wheezing noise grow closer as I opened it. Strolling into the corridor I found myself relatively close to my destination and gave a thumbs up to the beautiful blue creature, glad for her help. "Thanks again."

Stumbling into the room as it jolted violently, the Doctor was pulling levers and twisting knobs as he navigated through the time vortex. Martha, who was dressed and ready for the day, clung to the console just as the machine came to a halt. Bouncing away from the controls the Doctor smiled, "There we go…perfect landing, which isn't easy in such a tight spot. Oh Echo you're just in time!"

Martha waved in hello before she looked over towards the doors, "You should be used to tight spots by now. Where are we?"

"The end of the line."

Martha radiated excitement as she took off for the entrance. Only to pause for a second and looked back at the Doctor, who didn't appear as excited as he usually was when we traveled to somewhere new. In fact he kind of seemed solemn, "No place like it."

Martha must have sensed it as well, because for a moment she hesitated, waiting for reassurance. He nodded the go ahead so she ripped open the doors with glee, racing out. The Doctor gave me a cheeky look before following suit after her and I quickly trailed behind, curious to see where we'd ended up.

Apparently he'd brought us to someone's messy bedroom, though I supposes I wasn't one to talk, at least I could see this persons floor. Martha turned on the Doctor with confusion, slightly upset, "Home. You took me home?"

Shoving his hands into his trouser pockets he smiled, "In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about 12 hours. No time at all, really."

Walking over to her mantle piece he'd started examining her photo's and knickknack's, nosing through her personal effects. And as what was to be expected he'd hurt Martha's feelings. After all, if he was doing what I think he was doing, it was kind of cold. "But all the stuff we've done—Shakespeare, New New York, old New York, Halloween," she asked, implying that we'd had gone through to much to just have it end as it was. Ever the oblivious one, he ignored her attempt at trying to make him see that he couldn't just leave. That or he just didn't want to see it as there was too much pain in goodbyes. "Yep, all in one night—relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs," he stated looking around spotting a pair of pink underwear upon a drying rack and picked it up with a finger, "laundry."

Her eyes bugged as she quickly snatched the item and shoved it out of sight, mortified. "So, back were you were, as promised," The Doctor sighed as he folded his arms behind his back. Martha blinked up at him, "This is it?"

He shifted uncomfortable as he inhaled deeply, "Yeah, Echo and I should probably…um…"

Leading up to finishing his train of thought her home phone started ringing cutting him off. The answering machine suddenly picked up, "Hi! I'm out! Leave a message!"

"I'm sorry," Martha apologized. The machine beeped and an older woman's voice called out, "Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?"

The woman in question rolled her eyes and smiled, "It's Mum. I'll wait."

Her mother's voice scoffed on the other end, almost as if she knew, "All right then, pretend that you're out if you like," both Martha and the Doctor smiled at that, "I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested."

Apparently she was extremely interested as she quickly bolted across the room to pick up her TV remote, clicking the device on. We all moved over, curious, to watch the screen as an old man appeared on a podium talking at a press conference. The young woman standing off to the side of him I presumed was Martha's sister. The old man leaned into the mike, "The details are top secret-"

"How could Tish end up on the news," Martha wondered aloud as she pressed the remote to her mouth. "Tonight, I will demonstrate a device," The old man continued. "She's got a new job. PR for some research lab," she informed only halfway listening to the TV. The old man held up a finger, "…with the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human."

The crowd of reporters instantly buzzed with questions, with shouts of professor, trying to garner his attention. The man's statement had certainly peeked my interest, but before I could hear anything else Martha suddenly switched off the device and returned her attention to the Doctor. "Sorry. You were saying we should-?"

"Yes, yes, we should...One trip is what we said."

Martha swallowed and leaned to the side, looking up at the man sadly, her eyes begging him to reconsider, "Yeah. I suppose things just kind of…escalated."

He looked down leaning an arm against the TARDIS and smiled jokingly, "Mmm. Seems to happen to me a lot."

"Thank you. For everything."

"It was my pleasure," He smiled fondly before disappearing into the TARDIS, leaving the door open, I was assuming, for me to follow. "And you," she said pulling me into a hug before I could slip away, "If you ever need anything, anything at all, you call alright?"

Feeling a bit emotional, as I was horrible with goodbyes and would do just about anything to make sure I could avoid them, I nodded, "Sure."

She pulled away letting me go. I hesitate in the thresh hold, "Maybe I can...maybe I can get him to...reconsider."

She shook her head and smiled wanly, "It's all right, really. I'll be fine, I promise."

I wasn't to sure about that. She looked about ready to break down trying to maintain a brave face, but some people like to be left alone with their hurt, sometimes the comfort just made thing worse. So I left, not wanting to delay any longer and drag it out, not wanting to give her false hope. The minute I shut the door behind me the Doctor started up the TARDIS, rushing around the controls till we were safely idle once more in the vortex. He slouched over the console as if weighed down by the years of his long life.

I fidgeted with my shoulder strap, "Can we go back?"

He looked up as if he'd forgotten I was there and shook his head, "No. No we can't. Sometimes the best thing for everyone, the only way to save them, is to say goodbye."

I could only frown at that. And I could see the wisdom in the statement, but it wasn't as if Martha didn't know what she was getting herself into, and I believed he had already past the time for goodbyes. If he had wanted to do that he shouldn't have brought her along in the first place. Besides, she was never just some onetime thing. Even I could tell he was purposely extending the trip, looking for any excuse he could get. "Doctor, please, you've missed something important-"

"I didn't miss any...thing-oh. Oh," he exclaimed as he pointed a finger in my direction, "you're right I did make a mistake! Oh stupid me! I'm getting to old. How could I not have seen it!"

Winding up a rotor and dinging a bell he pulled a few pins and twirled a few handles setting us back on a return trip. Pulling down a lever the TARDIS came to a quick halt as he raced for the door. He popped his head out, "No, I'm sorry. Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"

* * *

><p>Inside the TARDIS a battle of wills was taking place, one of epic proportions. And the world-nay, the universe depended upon the outcome! Okay, not really, but it was still a pretty big ordeal. Crossing my arms I stared angrily at the clothes rack set before me. <em>So we meet again!<em> It shouldn't have been so frustrating, but the darn TARDIS wasn't giving me much choice as it locked the door and refused to let me leave. A knock resounded from behind me. "Echo we need to get going, the Doctors starting to get a bit antsy."

"It's not my fault. The TARDIS keeps picking my clothes and she refuses to give me anything else to work with!"

"You'll just have to put it on or we're going to be late."

"But it's...I don't like it!"

"Oh come on it can't be that bad," Martha cooed. Easy for her to say she didn't have to wear it. "I'll look awful. Can't I just go with what I have on now? I can say it's some sort of fashion statement on the wealth-"

"Echo!"

I threw my hands up into the air, "Alright, fine! I'll put the stupid thing on!"

Grumbling under my breath about pushy TARDIS's and equally pushy friends I chucked my coat halfway across the room taking my shirt with it. As I discarded my jeans I took one last glare at the outfit set before me and quickly pulled it on. The strapless teal dress, that stopped just above my knee, cut and pleated it's way up to my right hip where it joined with a long strip of fringe that almost covered that leg. I then, much to my dismay and jubilation, exchanged my yellow kicks for a pair of golden strapy heeled sandals. I was happy for the freedom of open toes but high heels never sat well with me. I only had to fall down one staircase to know they were not the shoe for me. After that I pulled on a chunky gold bracelet for decoration.

Then a machine, that looked like the space age equivalent of one of those large dryers they stuck your head under when you visited the hair dressers, blinked at me from across the room. It was odd to say the least, but I assumed the TARDIS wanted me to do something with it. I looked up at the sentient ceiling quizzically, "What? Do you want me to stick my head into that thing?!"

The ceiling lights flickered briefly and I narrowed my eyes at them. "Was that a yes?"

Again they blinked and sighing in defeat—TARDIS two, me zero—sat down in the questionable contraption. I should have known asking for a closer distance to the console room would involve tit for tat. Immediately suction took place and a flash of light, that sounded similar to a disposable camera, blinded me for a few moments. With a click the head piece released and moved off to the side.

As I stood up I noted a slight breeze on the back of my neck so I turned to the mirror by the door. It became clear that my hair style had been altered. Instead I found my usual mess of curls pinned up to the side with a decorative gold clip attached to a large creme colored rose designed with some crystal dangly bits. "Echo!"

Letting out a moan of aggravation I wrenched the door open, finding it now unlocked, with a pout, "What!?"

Martha's mouth lay open for a second before she rolled her eyes with a smile and latched onto my arm. "If this is what awful looks like I'd hate to see what amazing is, cause then I just might have to slap you. Still contemplating wether or not to do it right now."

With a squeak I clutched my cheek in an attempt to protect it. "Why would you do that!"

Pulling me down the corridor she snorted, "Because if you look awful then by comparison on a good day I must look like shit. So watch it."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know, and that's why I didn't slap yah," she teased and bumped her shoulder into mine. Her laughter at my horrified expression traveled down the corridor into the console room. So, having heard us approach, the Doctor yelled us along, "Shake a leg you two! Don't want to miss all the good stuff, do you?"

"Hold your horses there mister. I just had a disagreement on outfits with the TARDIS, she won by the way, so take up my tardiness with her. Besides you can't really be late with a time machine now can you! Unless of course you're a bad driver," I playfully taunted with a toothy grin. Ready to quip back with his usual affronted 'oi' he spun around, index finger raised. Only his 'oi' melded into a different word. "O-wow. You look…," his adams apple bobbed as he thought of what to say next, voice pitching ever so slightly, "Lovely."

Martha's grip tightened on my arm, not that _she_ noticed, as the man forgetfully ignored her presence. I was guessing she hadn't received the same response when she'd left the dressing room. After a good long stare on his part, an uncomfortably naked feeling on mine as dresses made me incredibly self conscious, our mutual other friend cleared her throat to garner attention. Finally, realizing there was another person in the room, he looked over to Martha and sputtered to amend his earlier response, "You're both lovely. Very lovely. Right, so now that we've gotten all that lovely out of the way Miss Jones, Miss Adler I believe we have a party to crash."

Spinning on foot he promptly marched out the TARDIS grabbing the tux coat hanging from a coral pillar along the way. Frowning, slightly put off, Martha sighed. "You alright," I asked. Slipping her arm from out of mine she headed for the door. "Lovely," she grumbled, "Just _Lovely_."

Crap, had I just stepped in it. Was she upset with me or the Doctor? I rather hoped it was the latter, as I prided myself on not getting caught up in someone else's melodrama. And to be honest, where Martha was concerned, she seemed to created it every time the Doctor's oblivious nature didn't fit in with her romantic inclinations. Ah, but then again, to be hopelessly in love. I wasn't sure if I envied that or pitied it. Although, there was one thing I was sure of, I counted my self lucky having never experienced it. From what I'd seen, it tended to make everyone stupid. "Echo?!"

Stepping back into the present I looked up at Martha holding the door. "Yep coming! Sorry."

Sheepishly I slipped past her as she shook her head. I couldn't tell if she was still upset or not. Wobbling out onto the sidewalk, it appeared the Doctor had thankfully parked us relatively near the big fancy shindig. A large marbled building, with a few glass stories added in the middle of the structure, stood before us. Lazurus Laboratories. Down to the right a little ways guests could be seen entering through the front. It even had valet parking and red carpets! It was a little rich for my tastes, so already I felt out of place. Hell, the swankiest party I'd ever been to involved laser tag, video games and copious amounts of junk food and soda. Sadly, that had not taken place when I was nine...more like a few month ago. What could I say, all my friends, including myself, were big kids at heart. Oh, the function was going to be incredibly uncomfortable. I hoped there was no dancing, I really hated dancing. Maybe things would pick up when stuff started going horribly awry. Not that I was hoping for the worst, mind I don't want anyone getting hurt, or end up dying, but a hostage situation probably wouldn't make the event any worse that it was going to be. That was all I was saying. Nothing alien, just good old normal white collar crime. The _'give me your jewels and money kind'_. Wow, I was an awful person hoping for a crime to be committed so a party ended before it started.

And speaking of party, I hastily clip clopped after my two compatriots as best I could in my current foot ware, as they strolled along side each other; closing in on the marbled steps. Just as I caught up behind them the Doctor, fussing with his cuffs, made a grim prediction, "Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

"It's not the outfit, that's just you," Martha smirked, "Anyway, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way."

The Doctor, fussing with his bow tie next, gave her an indignant look, "James Bond?"

But then, after a second of internal deliberation, he cocked his head to the side. "Really," He asked with smug satisfaction. I could feel his ego boost without even having to look at him. Martha must have caught it as well as she chuckled softly to herself. Boys and their James Bond movies. Give me a good old heist movie any day. Not that I didn't like the Bond franchise, I've just always wanted to be part of a really cool ocean's eleven type heist.

Walking up the steps Martha handed a man checking invitations her ID. "Martha Jones plus two. I believe my sister left notice with the front desk."

* * *

><p>I officially hated fancy parties. I mean they were stuffy, filled with rules of etiquette—like not taking off your shoes even if your feet hurt for one—, full of back handed compliments, petty attitudes, they were boring, they have lecherous old men, they were boring, had no seats, only served champagne for a beverage, oh and they were boring! Now it wasn't for lack of trying on my part. I tried to mingle, but as I said lecherous old men, back handed compliments and petty attitudes, so I could safely say I gave it the old college try. The upside? They had really good snacks. It's why, when a server passed with a tray, I had quickly snagged a hand full and I wasn't the only one. The Doctor grabbed a couple and smiled happily. "Oh, look, they've got nibbles! I love nibbles!"<p>

I tried to say _'me too'_, but a mouth full of the stuff made it a little difficult, so I settled on a grin when it hadn't worked out. His face lit up in that particular special way that always seemed to make my heart swell, that goofy grin that I think he only reserved for his companions. The one that always made me smile back just as goofy.

"Hello!"

Just then the young woman from the TV came over to join us and Martha turned towards her voice with excitement. "Tish!"

She flung her arms out and engulfed her sister into a large hug. I believe with all the things that had happened with the Doctor, Martha might have come to miss her family. Near death experiences tended to do that. As they pulled apart her sister gave her a once over of approval, "You look great. So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"

"Very," Martha nodded as she looked around. Her sister, not skipping a beat, gave her a playful jibe, "And two nights out in a row for you—that's dangerously close to a social life."

"If I keep this up," she played along, "I'll end up in all the gossip columns."

"You might, actually. Keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum—she's coming too, even dragging Leo along with her."

"Leo in a black tie? That I must see," Martha smirked looking forward to teasing her brother. I could feel the family bond as I watched them interact with one another and it made me a little home sick for my own surrogate family back in 2012. Sensing my emotion the Doctor slipped his hand into mine and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze before retracting it when Tish noticed the two of us.

Martha realizing this made introductions, "This is, uh, the Doctor and Echo Adler."

Shifting his food to the other hand the Doctor grabbed Tish's outstretched arm and shook it, "Hello."

"Hi," I waved from his side. She quirked a surprised brow and turned to her sister, "Are they with you?"

"Yeah," Martha answered. This time Tish's smile was slightly forced as it almost slipped. She eyed the two of us warily, "But their not on the list. How did they get in?"

"They're my plus two," she postured not appreciating her sisters tone. Like it was odd for her to bring friends. Cutting in the Doctor spoke up, "So, this Lazarus, he's your boss?"

The sister spun her head towards him, "Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff."

"She's in the PR department," Martha corrected. Quick like lightning Tish rectified her statement, "I'm head of the PR department, actually."

Martha gaped, surprised by that tidbit of news, apparently a bit out of the family loop, "You're joking."

The sister smiled proudly, "I put this whole thing together."

"So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight? That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator," the Doctor asked about the large white octagonal tube in the middle of the room, eager for answers. I was a little curious about that myself, since there was a lot of technical equipment hooked up to it and that always led to trouble where he was concerned. Tish rolled her eyes, "He's a science geek. I should've known. Gotta get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."

Walking off she melded into the crowd as Martha watched her slip away. It was then the Doctor turned to her in confusion, "Science geek? What does that mean?"

She took a moment to think of a nice translation of what her sister might've implied, "That your obsessively enthusiastic about it."

He smiled happily about the '_compliment_' and turned to look at Tish's retreating form, "Oh, nice."

I stifled a laugh and Martha silently shushed me from behind him. I playfully mimed that my lips were locked on that subject. What he didn't know right? Tugging on the Doctors sleeve I gestured to the rooms main attraction, "Do you want to go take a closer look?"

"Might as well, that's what we came here to do after all. I'm curious to see what it's used for," the Doctor replied. "Or how it's going to change what it means to be human," Martha added. I hummed in agreement and approached the white machine, making sure to keep an arms length as not to upset the security watching the room. Didn't need to start any trouble.

As my scientific repertoire wasn't as extensive as the Doctors I was pretty much clueless as to what I was examining. For all I knew it could just be a really big, really expensive, tanning booth. Though the Doctor seemed to find it interesting enough as he folded his hands behind his back, something I noticed he did a lot when he found a new puzzle to solve. Martha, on the other hand, appeared just as lost as I was to the science before us. It was reassuring to know I wasn't the only one.

Suddenly a woman's voice called from behind. "Martha!"

She turned around in shock and immediately dashed over to the middle aged woman dressed in a beautiful gold sparkled sequence gown. "Mum!"

Like she hadn't seen her mother in forever, she squeezed her into a bone crushing hug. I was guessing it was something she didn't do often as her mother looked pleasantly amazed, "Oh. All right, what's the occasion?"

Martha pulled back with a smile, "What do you mean? I'm just pleased to see you, that's all."

Her mother gazed at her fondly cupping a hand to her face, "You saw me last night."

"I know. I just…missed you," she stated, her voice wavered over her words. Quickly to dispel the uncomfortable atmosphere she turned to her brother to change the subject, "You're looking good, Leo."

He scoffed at that, "Yeah. Well, if anyone asks me to fetch 'em a drink, I'll swing for 'em."

"You disappeared last night," her mother interjected with worry. I guessed Martha wasn't usually that affectionate, not that I was saying she was a mean person, but I took it she normally would have teased her brother and not have hugged her mother. That and the moment that had just occurred probably raised flags with the mother, her maternal instincts picking up on the unspoken, making her ask the question. Martha looked caught and tried to think of an answer, "I...just went home."

The mom glanced over at the Doctor picking up on his proximity to her daughter, "On your own?"

Following her gaze Martha quickly tried to remedy her suspicion, "This is a friend of mine, the Doctor."

"Doctor what," she asked. "No, it's just the Doctor," Martha answered, "We've been doing some work together."

Leo grabbed his hand and shook it, "You alright mate?"

"Yeah," the Doctor replied before shaking the mothers hand, "Lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you."

"Have you? What have you heard, then," the woman asked, sizing him up to see if he was suitable for her daughter. How did I know that? It was all in the subtext and by subtext I meant she crossed her arms and was giving him the evil eye. The Doctor didn't look like he was expecting her to say that though, "Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and…um… No, actually, that's…that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat, you know, been busy."

Now that last sentence piqued her attention. "Busy? Doing what, exactly?"

"Oh…you know…stuff," he said trying to come up with a credible lie that she'd buy. He didn't appear to be doing quite well and, noticing this, Martha tried to divert her mothers attention away from him. Unfortunately that meant throwing it onto me. "Right. Um mum, this is my other friend Echo Adler."

Seeing what Martha was trying to accomplish I let loose one of my best dazzling smiles and shook her hand, "Hello, nice to meet you."

Her eyes widened slightly at my accent. "An American? Are you a doctor as well," she asked. "Ah, no sorry, Artist actually. And I'm sorry it's sort of my fault they've been so busy. As you can tell I'm in a new environment and they've been helping me adjust. Martha's been really great."

I decided to use loose terms that could translate into what ever lie Martha's mother would believe, since I kept things pretty un-descriptive she'd fill in the blanks with what ever her mind would accept. A little thing I picked up in high school to get out of gym class or trouble with authoritative figures. I guessed you could say it was my version of psychic paper. And thankfully, it seemed to work as appeared to find the lie an acceptable answer, but still she persisted in asking questions. I was guessing she was a mama bear, meaning a bit over protective. "And how did you two meet exactly?"

"At the hospital. A friend of mine got sick so I sat with them," I smoothly answered. Again loosely based on the truth. Before she could barrage me with anything more, in order to extinguish her worry, someone tapped upon a champagne flute. Hooray for small miracles. The room then instantly died down and gathered around the machine, the focal point of the room.

The older man from television came over to address the guests as he trotted to stand before the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I'm going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you'll awake to a world which will be changed forever."

As cameras flashed and people watched silently in anticipation he opened the door and stepped into the machine, locking himself in. Maybe I was right, maybe it was a tanning booth. I mean why else would you go into it? Suddenly the machine let out a loud noise as it exuded a blinding light. Which only supported my absurd theory till I could spot blue electrical arcs circling the middle chamber as the four pillars around it began to spin and then rotate like a carrousel. So not a tanning booth.

Of course, as could always be predicted when accompanying the Doctor anywhere, something went wrong. A loud warning alarm started sounding off as the machine grew even more frantic in it's rotating rhythm. The Doctor turned to watch the technicians as they frantically pressed buttons, "Somethings wrong. It's overloading."

The control systems in the corner soon sparked and smoked as he rushed forwards. Jumping over the platform he began fixing whatever had went awry. Briefly, over the panic, and the sound, I could hear some woman yelling about getting him away from the controls. An order I was glad that nobody followed through with when he pulled out a cord, averting the meltdown. As the machine died down, coming to a stop, Martha and I sprang forth to open the door just as the Doctor raced over in urgency, "Get it open!"

And so we did, prying it open, freeing a plume of smoke and nothing else. For a moment we came to the possibility that the Doctor may have been to late in ceasing the overload. That Lazurus might not have made it. Of course, that moment passed, when a pair of hands grasped the door frame and a figure started to emerge from the chamber. A collective gasp made it's way throughout the room as the smoke cleared and Lazurus himself resurfaced. Yet, he appeared to have changed. Where once an old wrinkled man had entered now left a significantly younger one, forty years or so shaved off his life. Now while the rest of us were amazed at the feat the Doctor stood by horrified.

The younger Lazurus touched his face in glee and stumbled away from the machine, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am 76 years old and I am reborn!"

The room erupted with claps and cheers of enthusiasm as those of the press began taking pictures. Which soon segued into photo ops with the attendees. And, as if nothing had happened at all, everyone began returning to mingling with each other, eager to talk about how they'd be next in line for the proceedure.

Seeing his window of opportunity, since no one was really paying attention any more, the Doctor took a closer look at the machine. Meanwhile, us females stared at the newly rejuvenated man in disbelief. Martha folded her arms across her chest in suspicion, "It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick."

"Oh, it's not a trick. I wish it were," the Doctor grimly sighed. Not something that gave Martha or I much comfort. "What just happened, then?"

"He just changed what it means to be human."

"And I don't think it's for the better," I theorized. After all it'd create such a huge complicated rift between classes, the rich would live for ever while the poor die with only the time they were allotted. I could already see the impending chaos and conflict that could arise from that. I wondered if that man really thought his idea through or did his fear of death blind him from the possibilities. Who knew? The only thing I was positive of was that it would end badly.

An older woman suddenly exclaiming '_Richard_' caught my attention, and I realized that the man I'd been staring at had since moved. I really needed to stop getting stuck in my own head. He was instead shoveling down snack after snack from a plater into his mouth like a man that hadn't eaten in days. It's why we had finally approached him. After all, the sudden hunger seemed odd, but then again I supposed that if I just de-aged forty something years I'd be starving to.

"Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process," the Doctor explained.

"You speak as if you see this every day, Mr—," Lazurus halted waiting for the other man to finish his sentence. "Doctor. And, well, no, not every day, but I have some experience in this kind of transformation."

The professor didn't look very convinced and scoffed. "That's not possible."

Always one to rise to the challenge and prove his intelligence the Doctor smiled. "Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. That's—that's inspired."

The man appeared mildly impressed. "You understand the theory, then."

"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables."

"No experiment is entirely without risk," Lazurus brushed him off as he ate another snack. He didn't seem to care much about the serious nature at hand. So the Doctor frowned, "That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender."

The old woman, who I recognized as the owner of the earlier voice, sneered at his statement. "You're not qualified to comment."

The Doctor turned to her in disbelief, "If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded."

"Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less," the professor thanked and assured. "You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests," Martha piped up, a little concerned about his nonchalant attitude. The blonde man just laughed, "Look at me! You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially," the older woman stated, as if that would assuage any complaints. Something that I had known was coming, after all if it could be exploited it would be exploited. Consequences be damned. "Commercially?! You are joking," Martha scoffed, "That'll cause chaos."

"It'll cause the collapse of Western civilization," I grimly added. Lazurus chuckled lightly at my comment and smiled mockingly. "Not chaos. Not collapse. Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."

"This isn't about improving," the Doctor corrected, "It's about you and your customers living a little longer."

"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely," He smiled smugly. Having had enough the older woman beckoned Lazurus, "Richard, we have things to discuss. Upstairs."

I'm sure she was eager to calculate her cut of the soon to be profits. She didn't wait for a response and strode off. Putting down the plate of food he turned to the Doctor, "Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were."

However, before he left, he offered his hand to Martha who, for etiquette sake, grabbed it. Except when she tried to shake it he turned her hand over and drew it to his mouth for a kiss. I was extremely glad when he promptly left and didn't offer the same gesture to me. He was to irksome and thus I didn't think my face would've been able to fake a smile like Martha. The Doctor watched him leave worriedly, "Ooh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done."

"So what do we do now," she asked. He just shrugged and shoved his hands into his coat pockets, "Now…well, this building must be full of laboratories. I say we do our own tests."

Martha smiled and waved her hand near his face, "Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?"

"Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star," the Doctor smiled with pride. I didn't think I had ever seen Martha looked more pleased from a compliment, "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

He grinned, but it promptly fell when he glanced over at me. He gestured Martha on, "You go ahead I'll catch up. Promise."

She looked between the both of us in confusion, but did as he asked. He waited till she was just out of earshot before rounding on me. Except he never got the chance to speak as I beat him to it. I knew the moment his smile fell what he was going to say and I couldn't believe him. "You can't seriously be about to tell me to wait behind. You're just running tests, it's not as if we're running straight into some suicidal danger."

"Echo-" he tried to plead. "Don't. Don't you dare," I warned. "Please," he begged latching onto my shoulders and forcing me to look up at him, "I thought I was fine, but I find I'm not yet comfortable with throwing you into harms way. Remember we made a deal. I need this. Please. I can't lose anyone else."

He may have whispered the last part but I still picked it up. Great, make me feel like the asshat. "That's not fair. To play that card…," I sighed disheartened, "fine. Just this once I'll humor you but you try it again and I'll give you hell. You can't just bring me along sometimes, you can't pick and chose. Life doesn't work like that. You have to take the good with the bad. It wouldn't be called life if you didn't."

His eyes widened for a split second before softening, "Has anyone ever told you that for such a young person you have an old wisdom about you."

"Yep," I smiled, "but don't tell anyone. You'll ruin my irresponsible youthful image."

Ah, and there it was. That goofy grin of his again popping up and making me feel all warm inside. How anyone can say no to him when he gave you a look like that was beyond me. He bopped my nose affectionately, "Promise. Now don't go wandering off and stay out of trouble."

"I'm not the one who has a problem staying out of trouble buddy."

* * *

><p>Waiting sucked. I never could stand it if I didn't have something to entertain myself with. And seeing as both members of my party were no longer present I was shit out of luck in that department. It was why I'd taken to age old game of people watching from the side lines in a last ditch effort to keep my sanity.<p>

So, there I was leaning against one of the walls with a champagne flute in hand making up backstories and conversations for every person in sight. I knew it was sad but I had to occupy myself with something. As I made up fake backstory number 16 for 'Mr. Tailcoats', an older gent who'd made a living selling porcelain elephants, I had accidentally took a sip of my champagne forgetting what it was. Instantly my face scrunched up in disgust and I spit the offending liquid back into the cup. Ugh! Quickly looking for a place to get rid of the stuff I spotted a potted ficus near by and casually took two steps over, making sure to keep an eye on the crowd, and dumped the alcohol out. When a server walked past with a tray I placed the glass onto it without anyone noticing. No one any the wiser.

Yet, I suppose that wasn't entirely true. Ever since the Doctor had left it was like a set of eyes was constantly watching me, following my movements, but every time I searched for them I couldn't find a single person looking my way. It was getting ridiculous. I was starting to feel idiotic and paranoid until I finally caught them looking across the room. Dark, hungry, and calculating. He was impeccably dressed, tight black suit and tie, trim blonde hair, not a spot on him. The kind of guy most would call attractive. The kind most wished to marry. Not me though, never could see myself taking the plunge so to speak. Though I did see myself adopting a house full of kids, the reasoning for that being quite obvious.

Shifting uncomfortably under his deep gaze, I contemplated wether or not to go and find the Doctor when a loud bark of laughter to my right captured my attention for only a heartbeat. I supposed that was all tall, dark, and stalker needed to make his disappearing act into the crowd, because when I looked back he was gone. Great, that there was something to worry about. Something I wasn't about to stick around for. After all, a hasty retreat back to the TARDIS was in order. Once safely inside I'd shoot Martha a text so they'd know where I'd run off to. Needn't worry them.

Keeping that in mind I circled round the party goers and made my way over to the exit. Except, just as I past the threshold, at the outline of gossip and chatter, a thought occurred to me. How exactly was I going to get into the TARDIS? It wasn't as if I had a key or anything. Didn't really think this through I supposed. Letting out a groan of frustration I lazily went to turn back and rejoin the party. After all, where else could I hide? In the ladies? Actually…"Man troubles?"

Almost inducing a double heart attack at the sudden presence, I stumbled over my own feet to face my male inquirer. And, as luck would have it, my intimidating '_admirer_' had come for a chat. Great, and I had effectively cut my self off from the rest of the group. Even though I could see them I didn't know what kind of man he was, what if the guy had a laser weapon or a syringe filled with some top secret experimental drug that-...I've been spending way to much time with the Doctor if that was the first place I jumped to when confronted with a suspicious person. I needed to get a grip and keep calm. Exploding would not be wise. Mentally shaking off the panic, as not to worry my timelord friend or cause harm, I answered, "I don't know, do you have man troubles?"

That's right throw his question back at his face, lets see what that would do. Hopefully cause him to leave and not kill me? He paused for two shakes and I could have almost sworn his eyes were laughing at me. But the moment soon past and a predatory smirk overtook his features. "Oo, love a girl with a bit of spunk," he purred jiggling his shoulders back and fourth. Okie dokie then. I quietly laughed uncomfortably and rubbed the back of my neck. "Right. I should probably-"

"I'm sorry am I boring you," he interjected in a more sinister tone. His face scrunched into an indignant sneer. The instant change in demeanor definitely raised the alarm and I found a shiver of fear run up my spine. This was not the attitude of a stable person. Definitely had to get out of there without pissing him off. "It's not like-"

"It's not like what," he growled cutting me off, "like you're running away," he took a step forward and thus instinctively I took one back, "like you're blowing me off!?"

He took a few more steps and so I retreated a few more, this continued on, almost like some sort of twisted tango. "That's very rude, not very becoming of a _Lady_," he stepped forward and I stepped back, "and you've gone and hurt my feelings," he frowned taking one more step forward. It was then I realized, as I took one more step back, that in my panic, I'd run out of room to maneuver as my back hit the wall. It seemed I'd forgotten my surroundings. The unstable man however, had not, and let loose the most wicked of grins. "But I suppose I'll forgive you. After all you're just so hard to stay mad at. It's not exactly your fault, all you've know is _him_."

"Listen, I think you may have me confused with someone else," I cautiously corrected putting my hands up between us as a barrier. My attempt at making sure he got no closer. Not that it worked. He just grabbed hold of them and played with the ring on my finger, watching as he rolling it back and fourth. His eyes slightly narrowed at the item as if he found it offensive and thus he gripped my fingers harshly. Wincing I tried to pry them free but his hold was like a vice. However, the pain wasn't the only thing urging me to get away. It was strange, but the moment he touched my skin a weird sensation jolted to my brain. An odd tingling took up in the back of my mind. His eyes quickly shot up to mine, "Oh, I think not Miss Adler."

I gasped, "How do you…"

A throat clearing eliminated any answer I might have received. Annoyance flashed across his pale features as he canted his head towards the interloper. Four men dressed in black suits stood behind him, arms folded behind their backs in military fashion. All of them well muscled and quite threatening save one. The most normal looking chose to address him, "Mr. Saxon, the two _party crashers_ are on there way back to the main hall. As you predicted the old fool boggled it, but we've collected the files. If you wish to avoid the coming _festivities_ we'll need to escort you off the premises now."

Mr. Saxon sighed and rolled his eyes sarcastically at me, as if secretly amused, "If we must. I got everything I needed _here_ anyways."

The last statement felt as if it were directed solely towards me. That malevolent twinkle to his eye left me cold as he slipped his hands from mine, leaving. Of course not before parting a cryptic message, "You'll be seeing me later, red. It won't be long now. _Not long at all_. And remember dear, what comes next could have been avoid had you just told the truth."

I watched him leave in confusion pretty sure I'd just been threatened. But had no design as to why. What the hell was he going on about. Not only did that man give me the heebie jeebies but his hot and cold bipolar demeanor left me feeling very strung out. That was the strangest most terrifying conversation I'd ever had and I didn't exactly know what had just transpired, but whatever had I didn't believe played in my favor.

It wasn't until I could no longer see him and his '_secret service_' did I wander back to the party. Suddenly a glass of champagne didn't seem so bad. So I grabbed one as it passed by. Unfortunately second time around tasted just as awful as the first and I spit it back into the flute. I kept trying champagne why?! Of course, I had to find some way of getting '_rid_' of the evidence again, when an opportunity presented itself. In a sudden instant the lights had shut off, followed by an alarm. A computer automated voice called out over the intercom, "Security one."

A slight panic of voices overtook the crowd as they speculated about what was happening. Blowing out a puff of air I checked to see if anyone was paying attention. Nobody was so, taking advantage of the situation, I threw the glass over my shoulder to smash against a wall somewhere. What!? It was just going to get smashed at some point during the fray anyhow. After all it was how things proceeded when following the Doctor. The security system was just a precursor, a warning. A luxury I wasn't often given. So, as if it were the most normal thing in the world I leaned against a table and slipped one strapless shoe off and then the other. Wiggling my naked toes against the cold marbled floor and prepared myself for the upcoming running by hopping from one foot to the other. Only wished I hadn't consumed so many snacks. Damned things were going to weigh me down.

Then, as if on cue, the Doctor came racing into the room, his eyes frantically scanning the area. I felt his relief when they past my vicinity. Then Martha, and surprisingly her sister Tish, came trailing in after him. How they ran in heels I'd never know. "Tish! Is there another way out of here," the Doctor asked wasting no time. I took that to mean danger was heading our way. She pointed to the left, "There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now."

Shoving his hand into his inner tux pocket he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and tossed it to Martha, "Martha, setting 54. Hurry."

She nodded and quickly dashed off, her sister following on her heels. I would have gone with them but I wanted to ask the Doctor what was going on. I knew there was trouble, I just didn't know the details. Funny how he left for twenty minutes and suddenly there was urgent peril. Before I could get the lowdown however he jumped onto the platform before Lazurus's machine and tried to address the crowd, "Listen to me! You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

Some pretentious woman scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous. The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."

As if the universe was trying to prove her wrong, a huge scorpion with the face of a human came shattering through the glass partition on the balcony floor. He looked like a character straight out of the resident evil games Hunter was so fond of. I myself was more of a silent hill fan but I didn't think the scorpion cared. Chaos quickly ensued as people screamed and ran for cover. "Or that. That would do it," I added to no one in particular. Before I could process it people were pushing each other out of the way towards the exit, survival the only thing on their minds. Even more so when the creature jumped from above to our floor, throwing tables across the room as it made it's way over to the screaming crowd. Some guy in his haste to escape shoved my side and sent me sprawling to the ground. Without a handhold to grab for balance I fell down hard on my back. I laid still for a second, wincing. Something I probably shouldn't have done because when I opened my eyes next a big old scorpion leg was about to smash down on my head. "Oh shit," I exclaimed rolling out of its path. Lucky he was to busy smashing things to notice me.

A hand quickly grabbed my arm and wrenched me off the floor back onto my feet. I twisted my head to the side to see the Doctor and smiled, "Hello, fancy meeting you here."

Unfortunately he was a bit busy in protector mode to play along, "Echo-."

I interrupted by waving him off, "I know, I know. Evacuate with the rest."

He shot me an appreciative half smile before jumping into action as the big beast loomed towards the woman who had mocked him earlier. "No! Get away from her!"

Backing off as requested I made my way for the exit like everyone else when I spotted Martha's family watching on in frozen horror. I couldn't very well just have left them behind, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I had, so I raced over to help. Only stopping when the woman on the other side of the room screamed, just in time to witness a most awful scene. The scorpion lifted its tail up unhitching the two prongs on its tip, releasing a smaller fleshier forked tail. The forked tail violently dove into her chest cavity devouring her juices, literally sucking her dry. Draining her life force. When she was nothing left but a mummified husk in beautiful clothing it callously threw her away. Her shell of a form fell to the ground with a sickening crunch.

I didn't linger long on the scene, I couldn't afford to. Still, my stomach roiled in turmoil for the poor woman, she may have been a fool but she needn't be a dead one. Unfortunately I had to carelessly shove those feelings aside, Martha's family took precedent at the moment and neither of them seemed to be able to unglue themselves from the floor Leo had fallen to. Running over I knelt down and shook the older woman's bare shoulder. "Martha's mom we have to move, come on. Hurry, grab an arm and I'll grab the other," I ordered trying to pull Leo off the floor. But neither budged, to frozen with fear to move as the creature opened it's gaping maw in a screeching growl. I could feel the pitch in panic from the Doctor as he realized where I stood. "Lazarus! Leave them alone!"

The creature spun towards his furious shout, circling him as if calculating an attack. It was at that time that Martha made an appearance and rushed over to Leo, managing where I failed to gain her mothers attention. "Martha," she called out with relief, touching her child's face to reassure herself she was ok. Instead of answering her mother Martha shifted her attention to her injured brother, "C'mon, stay with me."

Gently shoving me aside she replaced my hands and lifted her brother up with the help of her mother, dragging him from the room. However, before I followed suit I noticed a group of attendee's hiding behind a table, the only people left in the room. Their fear trapping them. As the Doctor kept the attention of the beast solely focused on himself, by insulting it, I rushed over to the unfortunate party goers. "Hey! Get up you ninnies, right this instant! You need to evacuate with the rest, do it now while the creatures distracted. GO!" I commanded. None moved. Five terrified faces stared back at me so afraid I didn't think they comprehended anything said. Taking a page out of the Doctors play book I grabbed the closest one by the shoulders and tried that whole _'peer into their very soul'_ look he always used. "Listen, I know you're all scared, but if you don't move there's nothing to say that things not going to come this way. And I can tell you this, it won't be for a chat. Its big, its mean, and its hungry so I suggest you do as I say and follow me to the lobby. Is that understood? Nod your heads if you understand."

Each quickly shook their heads up and down in chaotic unison. "Good, then move," I motioned them forward. Crouching low to the floor the well dressed group made their way across to the hall, advancing in the direction Martha had dragged her family. Just before I passed through the threshold I took one last fleeting glance back at the Doctor. Part of me wished to defy his order and stay to help, but I knew it was counterintuitive. I'd most likely become a distraction and only make things worse, so begrudgingly I left. Despite my own reservations.

Once fully in the hallway I caught up with Martha and company and motioned the other five to carry on without me. They didn't even try and talk me out it.

Martha held her brothers head between her hands, examining the response of his irises. "What's the Doctor doing," Tish asked her sister, peering back from once we'd come. "He's trying to buy us some time. Let's not waste it. Leo, look at me. Let me see your eyes," the doctor in training commanded, confirming something, she turned to her mother, "He's got a concussion. You'll need to help him downstairs."

Martha walked over to an ice bucket filled with champagne bottles and grabbed a hand full of the cubes with a napkin, extending it to her mother. "This'll keep the swelling down. Go! I'll be right behind you! Tish, move! We need to get out of here!"

She pushed her younger sister forward as she took up the rear in a protective formation. Something I'd have done if I was in her shoes. But I could tell from the slight shake in her hand that the misadventure hit a nerve, scaring her more than she'd have liked. Remarkably she kept her composure. "Martha," I lightly pronounced from beside her. She jolted, so busy with worry I wasn't surprised she'd forgotten I existed. A guilty look crossed her features as she realized that, "Sorry-"

"Don't worry about it," I interrupted, "their your family. I understand."

She nodded her head with a sigh of relief, "Thanks."

* * *

><p>Things were relatively quiet as we trekked down the hall. Not a word was spoken as we slowly progressed with the injured Leo. Everyone took the small uninterrupted silence to filter through the things that weighed heavy on their minds. Most trying to swallow witnessing a giant scorpion suck a woman dry like a juice box. I knew it was something I wouldn't be able to get out of my mind for a while. Things might've remained quiet till we reached the entrance had Martha's curiosity not taken over. "Echo," she murmured in a hushed tone, trying not to alert the others. "Mm," I responded. "I realize now's not the time to be discussing this but why'd the Doctor insist you stay behind? What exactly's going on between the two of you. I know you said it's nothing but..."<p>

There it was, doubt. Her own insecurity showing up again. I didn't know how she got it into her head that the Doctor and I were an item, since we'd only known each other for a short while, but I'd obviously not explained it properly since last she brought it up. Sighing I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Your right it really isn't. But since I know it'll just keep pestering you till you've gone mad I'll explain. It's for the same reason you're personally evacuating you're own family. He's afraid. And even though I find it incredibly infuriating, as I can take care of myself and have been doing so for most my life, I have to see it from his point of view. If only for a while."

Surprisingly she didn't get defensive or shoot a nasty look like I had expected to my tight response. Instead she quirked her head to the side, "And what's that?"

"Think of it like this, his home is gone, the only thing left of it is his beloved TARDIS. So then, one day he stumbled upon me and found out _'hey I'm not the only one left. I'm not completely alone. No longer the last.'_ Except that comes with it's own problems. He knows what it's like to be the last and he doesn't want to go back to that, but his life is full of danger. And that danger could possible make his worst fear a reality once more. It would be paralyzing. Distracting. So even though I'm not happy about the current arrangement I'll stay behind. Just don't expect me to be quiet about it."

"What about you," she asked. I furrowed my brow in confusion, "What about me?"

"How do you feel about your um," she cast a quick glance to her mother noticing her strain an ear, "new found heritage."

"Oh," I smiled half heartedly, this was the first time anyone other than Lionel had asked how I felt on the matter, "to be honest. Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. It's kind of confusing and a tad daunting. So I don't know exactly what to do with it. I just-I just don't try and over think it. I know it's not very healthy, but I don't think I'll ever fully process any of it."

"Well," she patted my shoulder, "like I said, ever need an ear I'm there."

"Thanks."

As we neared the staircase to the lobby the loud panicked screams of a large crowd could be heard once more. Tish quickly rushed ahead and disappeared down the stairs. It was at that time that Leo, who appeared on the mend, became fully aware and ran after his sister. "Leo," his mother called after him, briskly following. Martha and I raced after the group, my feet slapping against the cold marbled floor. As we hustled down to the lobby, the crowd pushed and shoved each other against the thick glass doors, Tish turned at our arrival with alarm. "We can't get out! We're trapped!"

"There must be an override switch," Martha yelled over the noise, "Where's the security desk? Tish!"

"There," she pointed to the opposite wall. Martha dashed over, sliding across the desk into the office. She stopped at the security screens hesitantly unsure of where to go before walking over to the switch board. Pulling up the screwdriver she buzzed the panel and, with a shock, the light returned and the doors popped open. People burst through them like a school of frighten tuna rushing into the street. Martha laughed in triumph as I gave her a high five over the desk. Her mother however ruined the small happy moment, "Martha lets go."

Her face fell at the authoritative tone, "Alright mum."

Sliding back across the counter she hesitantly obeyed, but lingered as the entrance neared—unsure of what to do next. I knew what she was thinking before she even said it. I was thinking the same thing myself, only I had made a promise. I never broke them. But she had made no such deal. Bumping my shoulder into Martha's to gain her attention I motioned back to where we'd come from, "Go. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into left to his own devices."

She tried to hold back a smile. "Only the best kind," she answered before announcing her intention to her family, "I've got to go back."

Her mother instantly turned around, face scrunched in anger, "You can't! You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you."

Martha shook her head, putting her foot down, "I don't care. I have to go."

Stalking forward like a lioness prowling towards prey a look of recognition crossed the mothers features as she stood before her daughter flabbergasted, grabbing hold of her arms to keep her there, "It's that Doctor, isn't it? That's what's happened to you. That's why you've changed."

Tish slinked over, "He was buying us time, Martha. Time for you to get out, too."

"I'm not leaving him," Martha firmly reiterated, letting go of her mums hand to race back up the stairs. "Martha," her mother shrieked after her. Tish grabbed the dazed woman's hand and led her from the building. However, I waited till I could no longer hear my friends hurried footsteps, wishing like hell to accompany her, but knew better than to follow through with that thought. If the Doctor couldn't trust that I'd follow the agreement than he'd never let me out of the TARDIS. So begrudgingly, I left to wait outside with the rest of the crowd on the marbled steps outside. Martha's mother and bother sat on the them while Tish tapped her foot standing before the two. The sister crossed her arms, "She'll be all right. The Doctor and her, they'll look out for each other."

Feeling like it was a family moment, I moved away in search of a quiet spot to wait for the return of my friends. I took to leaning against one of the large pillars and watched the events around me. People were hugging, crying and soothing each other, some even taking advantage of the tragedy for there five minutes of fame with the reporters that had attended. An ambulance rolled up and paramedics jumped out to assist those with injuries or hyperventilating from the trauma. The police would be arriving any minute then. Scanning the area I caught sight of the group of five talking with some of the reporters, their pictures being taken.

A blinding flash scorched my vision that I had to rub my eyes as a man started asking questions. "Ah, hello miss. Can you tell me about the incident inside Lazurus laboratories? Were you scared? Were you frightened? Who did you come with?"

Pointedly gazing at him through blurred sight I tried to move his camera away from out of my face, "No comment. Find someone else to interview I'm sure they'd be more than willing."

" Ah, you're American, how exotic. A lovely woman such as your self would most surely make the front page, all I need is a quote, please just a few question-"

"I believe Miss Saxon said no," interrupted a familiar voice from behind me. I quickly turned to confirm, with much dread, that it was none other than the right hand man of the odd fellow from before. He gave the reported an evil glare and he promptly skittered off, not before taking one last picture though. "My last name isn't Saxon," I corrected with unease. If he was there, than the real Saxon must be near by. Now there was a confrontation I didn't want to get involved in.

The oily man thinly smiled, "Of course, but throw the name around and reporters are more inclined to listen. They have great respect for Mr. Saxon, he is after all, a great man. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to attend to."

As he started walking away I held him up, grabbing hold of his arm. "Why'd you help me? What exactly is Mr. Saxon's game here? I-"

"I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry. So, if you must know where you're involved he's quite concerned. You are his _Lady_ after all."

There it was, some inside joke, the presence of some secret I wasn't privy to that involved me, one that Mr. Saxon and all his cronies seemed to be apprised of. It was very annoying. Quickly dislodging himself from my grip he briskly descended the steps and I moved to chase after. There was something hinky going on and since it seemed to revolve around me I believed I was entitled to some answers. Unfortunately, I never got very far as a strong hand clamped onto my shoulder and spun me round. It was then I came face to face with a very angry mama bear.

"You, you came with that Doctor didn't you," Martha's mother accused as if I were Ted Bundy's lawyer. "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong," I inquired, confused at her sudden hostility. She jabbed a finger in my face, "I don't know how you got involved with 'im, and your not my responsibility, but you keep my Martha out of it."

"Again, I really don't know what you're talking about."

"I know what kind of man he is! I have a reliable source. If your mother knew what he's done she'd not let you tramp around with 'im. So here's some advice, leave 'im before you end up as just another on a long list of the dead. My Martha won't end up there, I'll make sure of it. She's got a respectable career ahead of her as a proper Doctor, I'll not have 'im or you ruining that."

I didn't know what issue to address first, or what exactly she thought she knew, but I was to stunned at her seething rant to really respond. No one had ever had such an open hostility towards me before. What was it with the Jones family?! And speaking of Jones, Tish walked over hearing her mothers raised voice and placed a calming hand on her shoulder, "Mum calm down. What are you shouting for."

The woman turned round close to hysterics. "What if-What if Martha- What if she's-," the mother trailed off as soon as the doors opened. For one brief second, crippling terror spread across her features as the paramedics rolled out a stretcher, an unmoving body being escorted from out of the building. But soon it was clearly Lazurus as the press vultures swarmed, taking pictures of the dead man as security fended them away. She let go of the breath she'd been holding, realizing with a shudder of relief, that it wasn't her daughter. She watched them load the body into the ambulance in numbed silence. "She's here. Oh, she's all right," Tish announced rushing up the last few steps to pull her sister into a hug.

The Doctor looked over at us smiling as Martha's mother strode over, "Ah, Mrs Jones, we still haven't finished our chat."

I waved my hands back and fourth in a gesture that definitely said _don't do it, Run!_ Unfortunately he wasn't very good with charades. "Doctor I wouldn't," a slap rang out cutting my sentence short. The Doctor held his face, eyes wide with shock, the same look we all wore. "Keep away from my daughter," she growled shoving a finger into his chest. Martha shouted appalled, "Mum, what are you doing?"

"All their mothers, every time," he whined under his breath, trying to rub the soreness away. "He is dangerous! I've been told things."

Carefully avoiding the angry woman I leaned towards the Doctor, speaking in hushed tones, "I did try to warn you. But better you than me, had you not shone up when you did I think she was going to release the _wrath of mom_ on me from association. So please, what ever you do, don't leave me alone with her."

He looked down at me, "Yeah sorry about that…"

"Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction," Mrs. Jones emphasized leaning down to grab her daughter shoulders. I could feel the Doctor stiffen from beside me at the last few words spoken. I gripped his hand in silent comfort, returning his earlier favor. Without looking he gently squeezed them in thanks. "This isn't his fault. He saved us, all of us," Martha shouted pushing her mothers arms off her. Leo sensing the rising tension spoke up with a sarcastic quip to ease things, "It was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place. I'd say, technically, it's her fault.

Said sister rolled her eyes and jabbed him in the abdomen with her elbow, not wanting to be the object of her mother's fury. He winced with a short laugh and clutched his side. Before anymore words could be spoken in misplaced anger a loud crash resounded from up the street. Everyone turned towards it. The Doctor just took one last look at the overprotective mother and dragged me along, racing down the street. A few heartbeats later Martha wasn't far behind, her sister eventually pulling up the rear.

A few blocks ahead lay the earlier ambulance halfway up on the side walk, lights blaring—cascading sickly orange ghosts all over the marbled Victorian architecture and casting strange intense shadows over the Doctor's face. The nearer to the vehicle, the clearer the picture was painted. The double doors were left thrust open, medical supplies thrown about haphazardly and the prior paramedics: dried husks with faces etched in terror. The stretcher between them empty. We stumbled to a stop in front of the scene and the Doctor dropped his hand to pull out his sonic. He frowned at the sight, "Lazarus, back from the dead. Should've known, really."

"So were going biblical now," I quipped, trying to lighten a dark mood, watching as he carefully scanned the area. All I got was a quick restrained smile out of him, but I'd seen the corner of his lips quirk up; even if it was for a millisecond. Martha and her sister finally caught up, the later slightly huffing with exertion. The doctor in training paused on the gurney, "Where's he gone?"

The sonic pitched slightly as it pointed towards a cathedral on a parallel street. Peering up at the tall spires in the distance the Doctor answered, "That way. The church."

A flash of recognition crossed Tish's face as she gasped, "Cathedral. It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."

The Doctor trudged off towards the building, sonic raised, face as grim as a reaper. I wondered if I was allowed to follow, if he had expected I stay behind with the dead, or if he'd just forgotten about my presence all together or had he now accepted that danger couldn't be avoided and was taking me along. I didn't presume to know, but then again, I wasn't in the Doctors head so I could only hypothesize and never truly be right. So, taking the initiative, I followed the motley crew to what I was sure would be an assured death; if the Doctor couldn't think of a plan that was. He always had one, even if most of the time they were just spur of the moment. It was why, even though we were head towards something terrifying, I wasn't altogether worried. Of course, I'd probably change my tune once face to face with the life force drinking scorpion man. I long to be a totally BAMF and could just go up to things like that and be like, _Ha, you think you're something, I've seen tougher SOB's in my mother's knitting circle._ The likely hood of my attitude ever living up to those aspirations were zilch though. My motto was more of general cowardice with moments of insane crazy bravery. Some of which I was about to put to use.

* * *

><p>The old large wooden cathedral doors were left slightly ajar, it's thick heavy frame cracked by some intense force. The Doctor entered first, sonic poised for action as the blue end beeped as we drew nearer into the darkened nave. Martha squinted into the pitch black, "Do you think he's in here?"<p>

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary," he stated, eyes darting from shadow to shadow. Moving up the middle of the empty cathedral, pews casted in darkness from the little bits of moon light that managed to shine through the stained glass windows up high, there was a stillness in the air. As if the very building itself held its breath waiting, waiting for it's sanctity to come shattering with a violence.

Treading lightly to the space behind the altar, to where gothic architecture weaved roman designs in the name of god, Lazurus sat hunched in pain, gasping with shuddering breaths—wrapped in a red blanket stocked only by paramedics, naked as the day he was born. He appeared pathetic and sad as if fallen from grace, the church a seemingly appropriate back drop for the act. There would be no more life for him, not if he couldn't see reason; he'd never see his money again, never experiment in his laboratory and he'd most likely never be willingly let out into the world again. Not after what he'd done. How far he had fallen from his prestigious lifestyle, and all with the press of a button. If only he had listened. If only he hadn't killed those people.

He looked up hearing our approach, his attention solely diverted to the Doctor, who, put away his device, "I came here before. A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat there, just a child…the sound of planes and bombs outside."

The Doctor circled around him, curbing to a stop in front of the man, "The Blitz."

"You've read about it," Lazurus stated with sad eyes, in a way that said he couldn't actually understand.

"I was there."

Lazurus scoffed, shaking his head, "You're too young."

"So are you," the Doctor cleverly remarked. Lazurus smiled and laughed but threw his head back with a noise of pain. Bones breaking and reshaping through flesh reverberated into the high cathedral ceilings, sickening to the ear. But Lazurus fought off his mutation, keeping the transformation at bay, refusing to give in till all that was needed to be said has been said. "In the morning the fires had died, but I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again."

He leaned down to catch his breath as the Doctor circled around him, examining the bell tower above. I could see a plan form behind those clever caramel eyes and factoring my location I moved to the other side of the altar away from the staircase, clearing a path in which he could run unhindered. "So defenseless," the former professor restrained a spasm, "I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today."

"That's what I did today," the man stubbornly corrected. The Doctors face contorted with anger at Lazurus's apathetic attitude, "What about the other people who died?!"

"They were nothing. I changed the course of history," he arrogant stated, raising his head, puffing out his chest in undeserved pride—so disillusioned in his grandeur that he believed his life more important.

"Any of them might have done too," the Doctor reasoned, still pacing around him, "You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."

Lazurus sneered, his face turning ugly at the comment, "No, Doctor. Avoiding death. That's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…successful."

As his last words rang out a choir of his shouts echoed into the darkness and his body once more seized with debilitating convulsions. "Look at yourself," the Doctor pointed as the man receded into a ball, "You're mutating! You've no control over it! You call that a success?"

"I call it progress," a particular large crack reverberated thru the room and he attempted to breath through it, "I'm more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."

"There's no such thing as an ordinary human," the Doctor smiled affectionally at the term, one I was guessing he'd heard from many a person before. And I had to agree with him, no one was ordinary, boring yes, ordinary no. He whispered something to Martha as he passed, both eyeing the bell tower. As he made his way to my direction Lazurus looked back up, "You're so sentimental, Doctor. Maybe you are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tried of watching everything turn to dust," He came to squat at eye level with the other man, "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you end up alone."

Martha eyed me from across the room and so I met her gaze. Her mouth formed a silent '_O_' as she finally realized the truth of my words, the real connection between the Doctor and I. That what fueled his preferential behavior wasn't out of romance but loneliness. Out of all the people he could travel with, out of all the people he could pick up, I was the most likely to live as long as him; ensure he'd never be lonely again. Finally it clicked.

"That's a price worth paying."

I swiveled my attention to Lazurus. "Is it," the Doctor countered, standing up as the man seized again, finally making the full circle over to me. He leaned down close to my ear. "How well do you play the piano," he asked in a hushed tone. I rolled my shoulders. "I can play happy birthday, jingle bells, lime in the coconut and moves like jagger but that's as far as my musical repertoire goes," I whispered, listing each song with a finger. "Any requests?"

"I will feed soon," Lazurus notified, stopping our conspiratorial conversation.

"I'm not gonna let that happen," the Doctor asserted with a glum certainty.

"You've not been able to stop me thus far."

Martha, who'd been just a spectator till then, positioned herself before the stone stairwell. "Leave him, Lazarus! He's old and bitter," she timidly inferred, "Thought you had a taste for fresher meat."

The Doctor step forward, "Martha, no."

Snarling Lazurus lunged forward, the scorpion body beginning to manifest as his body reshaped and reformed with the cracks and sickening twists of flesh. Martha jumped and spun around on heel, racing towards the winding staircase. Her sister ran up next to her. "What are you doing," Martha asked with raised squeaky voice.

Tish gave her an are-you-retarded look, "Keeping you out of trouble!"

Martha vaulted through the black wooden door, "Doctor the tower!"

He rushed across the main antechamber, the nave, to stand helplessly in the middle, hands twisting in knots as he followed the odd sounds and panicked voices of the Jones sister's from above. I hurried over with cold naked feet to assist in searching the archways above for any sign of the two girls. "Where are they," he growled between frustrated breaths, "Martha?!"

Her head peeked out of the architecture, expression frantic and pulse heaving. I point out her location, "Doctor, over there!"

She waved for his attention calling out, "Doctor!"

"Take him to the top," he commanded, voice traveling up the vaulted ceiling, "the very top of the bell tower, d'you hear me?!"

She nodded her head, paraphrasing so he saw she understood, "Up to the top!"

In an instant she disappeared behind the gallery above. Wasting no time he rushed past in the direction towards the west wall, "Echo!"

"Right. Coming," I called out covering the rear. Leaping forward he wrenched a highly decorated mahogany door open, jumping two steps at a time till he reached the hidden organ loft—sliding into the pew. I fell in next to him, assessing ever knob and key wondering where to start. Thankfully, the Doctor had that covered and extracted his sonic out of his coat, using his mouth, biting down on the blue bit, and extended a secret extension. He smirked smugly holding up the device for me to see, "Hypersonic sound waves. Inspired."

He then rammed the blue head into an unfilled slot pressing the button on the screwdriver. Quick as he could he then started pulling out knobs, high and low on the board set before us. I leaned over his shoulder as he worked, "So which do you prefer, lime in the coconut or moves like jagger?"

The Doctors lips quirked in that devil may care way, the one that always create a dreamy look in Martha's eyes, as his hand hover over the keys. "How 'bout we let me doing the playing," he grinned wiggling his fingers, "Have I not mentioned? Magic fingers."

Martha's scream rang throughout the nave and his grin slipped into determination. Interlocking his hands to crack out all the kinks he then sent them crashing down onto the ivory teeth bellow, "I hope it's good acoustic in here."

A loud crescendo of notes blared as he rapidly began to play, air shot thru the metal pipes almost vibrating the very air as his playing picked up with even more speed. His whole performance was almost like dance as he pulled knobs, stepped upon the rows of pedals underneath, cascaded fingers across the board and his whole body moved with the mechanics. Going faster and faster, increasing in speed as he went. Except the faster he went the more frustrated he appeared, screams traveled down from the bell tower, informing him that his plan wasn't having the desired effect. He motioned to his sonic screwdriver, "We need to turn this up to 11."

I pulled out the device and turned to him in confusion, "How do I do that?!"

"Just point and think," he yelled over the music. Squeezing my eyes shut I pointed the sonic at the organ, the words _eleven_ and _loud_ repeating in my mind like a mantra. The pipes belted out a thunderous ear-splitting tune. It took everything I had not to cover my ears from the pain. Yet, despite the deafening sound, the Doctor continued unhindered if not slightly wincing. Suddenly a large boom smacked against the floor, reverberating through the room. With a screech the Doctor abandoned the keys and leaned over the banister to see what had fallen. Peering over his shoulder I could spot Lazurus's naked form sprawled upon the ground amid remnants of broken wooden bits.

I hesitantly grabbed the hem of his coat making him glance back, sensing the rush of cold fright, "You don't think he might have…"

The sudden possibility flittered into his mind and he rushed to lean over the banister to shout up, "Martha?!"

Silence. Not a sound save our breaths, nothing moved in the stark stillness. Both us strained, hoping, for an odd sound to filter down. An eerie moment passed before an answer finally came. "I'm okay! We're both okay!"

We both sighed in relief and I rested my head into the small of the Doctors back. Removing my self, after I realized what I'd done, I shook it off and squeezed myself in next to the Doctor to lean over the banister. Calling up, "What! Were you pausing for dramatic effect!"

Choked laughter danced down, a tone between hysteric and camaraderie. "Just keeping things interesting!"

The Doctor untangled himself from the tight space and descended the stair case with haste. That time, as the moment of life and death had passed, I glided after at a more leisurely pace—my feet beginning to ache a bit in protest. As I made my way down, the light of day began to twinkle through the stained glass nativities, the rising sun announcing the arrival of safety.

Over by the re-aged, original, Lazurus, the Doctor bent down to close his eyes. Showing, once again, that he was in fact, a good man. Something I wished Mrs. Jones could have witnessed to finally put that bad egg business to rest. He stood back up upon the sound of heeled feet, the broadcasted arrival of the two sisters and approached them. Martha flung her arms wide open and he reciprocated the action bringing her into a friendly hug, he pulled away with a proud smile. She stared up at him with admiration, "I didn't know you could play?"

"Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."

"Hmm, especially about playing loud," she joked. His face contorted in feigned confusion, "Sorry?"

Rocking back and fourth Martha chuckled at his corny joke, something I heard one did often when they loved a guy. Laugh at his bad jokes. A reaction that wasn't missed by the sister as she smiled happily for her sibling. Of course it was a moment slightly dampened by the mention of the forbidden word of the day. "Well," the Doctor announced, "it's about time we all headed home. Probably shouldn't stick around for the authorities. Too many questions."

Martha's happy look almost slipped at the word _home_, however she kept her composer, never wavering in her enthusiasm. "Yeah. Probably. Don't think they'd quite believe the truth anyway."

"Alright," Tish cleared her throat to interrupt, "anyways I should probably get back to mum and Leo, to check on things. They're sort of my ride back anyway and I don't want to have to take the tube, as of right now I'm currently unemployed and have most likely tanked my career."

"Sorry about that, I know how you liked your new job."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll find something. I always do," the younger sister smiled.

"Well we'll walk back with you half way," Martha added, hooking her arm with Tish. She appeared surprised by the action but then smiled as the headed out of the church. It was at that precise moment that the Doctor noticed something. "Echo?"

"Hmm?"

He peered into my big blues with the most serious look I'd ever seen him wear. So I intern did the same. "Where are your shoes?"

I looked to my naked feet and wiggled my toes against the stone, moving dirt and sand around between them. Returning my attention I couldn't help but let out a belt of laughter. One that was promptly followed.

* * *

><p>The millisecond we were back in the TARDIS I immediately raced for the wardrobe, desperate to shed the cocktail dress. So desperate I didn't even wait till I was thru the doors to shuck the article of clothing off. Even the shaky TARDIS landing couldn't stop my quest to undress. I released the clip and shook out my hair scanning the racks for something snugly. My duck PJ bottoms proudly hung from one of the nearby level. Hastily I grabbed them, not at all perturbed by the fact that that wasn't where I had left them, and shoved the thing on with a sigh at their incredible comfy fibers. It was in that moment of comfiness that I spotted it. The long sleeve, button up, duck covered top that paired with the bottoms. In barely restrained glee I ripped the item down and threw it on. Finally, I had a matching set!<p>

Almost skipping out the room down the hall, I stared at the top with a smile and wandered back into the console room unknowingly. "Going to bed?"

I jumped at the intrusion and stared up at the Doctor who typed on the old styled typewriter. "No. I don't really feel all that tired. I just thought I'd slip into something comfy and laze around for a bit, if that's alright with you," I asked, slumping down into the jump seat, kicking my feet over the armrest. He smiled, "That sounds fine. I think Martha needs a rest anyway. You'll find as your biology acclimates you won't require as much rest as you once did, but humans still need to sleep practically the whole day way. I've actually just made her a bedroom so-"

I jolted up with surprise, "You mean she's staying."

"Yep," he said, popping his 'p', as he leaned against the console. I pumped my fist into the air and fell back into the seat, "Yes!"

He lightly laughed before returning to the typewriter. "You know since I'm over here I might as well see about your room. Though I have a strong feeling she's already made it. She'll do that when she gets excited 'bout someone. It means she likes you."

"Well, that's comforting. It wouldn't be so great if she didn't," I smiled slouching further into the pleather. Out of habit I played with the ring on my finger, except, after a while, I came to a strange realization that I was using the wrong hand. It was then I noticed something quite peculiar and terrifying. Something that had been lost ages ago. "How the hell did you get there," I uttered in quiet disbelief. There, on my index finger, sat the missing twin to the ring on my other hand. They weren't anything special really. Although they both had beautiful symmetrical designs and most likely were custom made—as I never had found a replacement for the one that had been misplaced—they weren't exactly valuable. Just a childish sentimentality I never could get rid of. And yet, there it was, sitting on my finger after all those years. A chill washed over me as I stared at it, trying to conjure up how it could have possibly gotten there. Unfortunately, only one person had play around with my fingers that day. Something that didn't settle well.

"Any problems after we split?"

I looked up to the Doctor as he fiddled with a dial on the console, hesitating in an answer. I was torn on wether or not to tell him about my strange encounter with the man from the party, about his cryptic threat, about the ring that shouldn't be on my finger. But if I did, if I divulged that information, told him the truth, he may never take me on an adventure again. His fear of loneliness wouldn't let him risk it. So I decided, against better judgement, to keep it to myself. Hide it away in the back of my mind and wait for an appropriate opportunity. Or, should the man never show up again, forget the whole incident all together. And thus I lied.

I smiled playfully on the jump seat, laying sideways upon the furniture, "Naw, just the usual ever encroaching madness brought on by intense debilitating boredom. In my non-medical artistic opinion I'd prescribe taking me with you next time or I might end up, in my crazied delirium, a state senator who moon lights as an archeologist."

He froze, his face creating the funniest look I had ever seen him make, as if the whole idea appalled him. "A politician and an archeologist?! Are you blackmailing me?"

Grinning I sat up, trying to appear innocent, "Well if you insist."

A split second latter and I was rewarded with that goofy boyish smile of his. "With demands like that how could I win."

"So you mean it," I asked hopefully, sitting up straight, "I won't be stranded on the sidelines anymore?"

He pulled at his ear, "I-I-," he paused as he searched my hopeful expression, his shoulders slackened with defeat, "Yes. Cause you're right. I can't pick and chose. I'll just have to find some way to cope-"

In my intense feeling of happiness—something I wouldn't realize I did till later—I rushed forward and hugged the man, barely concealing my joyful laughter. A moment later his arms wrapped around my back and he rested his chin upon my head. As we lightly rocked back and fourth he persisted with one more question. "Are you sure nothing happened at the party after we left?"

As my head rested on his chest and I stared at the coral pillars, face falling, he couldn't see the expression I wore. I pretended, with years of practiced falsehood, to sound as if I were smiling. "Of course."

* * *

><p><em>Dun Dun Dun O.O was that the master? what was he doing there? why'd he giver her the ring? What's he up to beside you know, world domination? And how will this three's company relationship end? Well, none of you will figure that out till the gripping conclusion, or aka a few more chapter, so stay tuned :D P.s. I'd loved to hear your theories :D<em>

**Next chapter: 42**


	11. 42

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.

**555LordBacon666:**_ You're in luck I just finished the next chapter; thanks for the review. But do you have a big white van? cause you know what they say, [insert musical score here] always trust a stranger in a big white van! Anywho, I can't spoil things and tell you if you're wrong or right but you deductions will be proved or disproved in a few chaps :D_

**KatieTheBaka:**_ it is now updated sorry for the wait. I have valid excuses :)_

**ElfinCleona:**_ You are right but I won't tell you which part; I'll let it be a surprise :D_

**hangwan000:**_ Long overdue update sorry. thanks so much for your review :P_

**a hobbit:** _Your hopes have been answered, lol :)_

**SarcasticRaven: **_It's nice to know I'm not the only one who uses the word wicked :D_

**Midnight Angel414: **_Oh the rings are going to tie in immensely in the series as I've been doing alot of who research and have found some pretty interesting facts on timelords [there referenced from classic-who]. And don't worry I love rambles, they make me smile. Just like your reviews :)_

**Fulminata: **_Thanks. I make a few little references about her growing attraction even if she doesn't know she has them :D _

[The reason it took me so long to update is that I had to do a total re-haul of my story and edit the crap out of it, lots of spelling mistakes, and a few holes to fill. I'll be editing each chapter I post from now on before I post the next so it doesn't take me this long to post. I'll be doing the same with my Sherlock fiction before the next update.]

* * *

><p>Everything had changed, as much I supposed it could have, since we were both permanent figures upon the SS TARDIS. Martha and I had been with the Doctor about a week, traveling all over creation having the usual adventures; though thankfully they were nothing too threatening or world ending, no deaths involved, but still involved quite a lot of running. Needless to say they had been fun.<p>

Then, there was the fact that some more of my timelord traits had come in. Lets just say I had yet to visit my bedroom that existed somewhere in the deep recesses of the TARDIS and that I could hold my breath pretty darn long. Freaked me out when my second heart had started pumping for the first time. Of course, the Doctor being the Doctor, wanted to celebrate; brought us to a nice party where we had gotten into trouble, per usual. Things had been going great, save for one thing. And it was something entirely of my own design.

Where ever we went I was always looking over my shoulder. As if I were waiting for some force to ruin everything. Though what I was waiting for I had no idea. For some reason or other I couldn't quite shake the irrational feeling. Unfortunately, even Martha had noticed.

"So what happened," she quietly asked across the kitchen table, delicately sipping a cup of tea.

"What do you mean," I asked appearing nonplussed, playing with my bowl of fruity pebbles, "Nothing happened, I'm just eating with you see."

"You know what I mean, ever since the party you've been actin' squirrelly."

"Oh, that! Well, how was I supposed to know that the Regent Prince of the Entrian Empire of the Kalax system was proposing. It was just a hand shake! You heard what he said, there was no place in the galaxy that I could hide from his throbbing roddual. Which thank god meant heart. For a second I had thought he was talking about his pe-"

Abruptly she interrupted the rant with narrowed eyes. "That's not what I was talking about and you know it. Now stop avoiding the question. I swear it must be some timelord thing."

I shrugged her off, spooning another mouthful of the rainbow of fruity goodness. "I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ever since the party at Lazurus Laboratories you've been jumpy."

I swallowed calmly and pushed my bowl away, further across the table, and interwove my hands underneath my chin, resting it upon them. Casually I peered over at her, "I'm just cautious, that's all. Everywhere we go there's bound to be trouble I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable."

Martha shook her head, not believing a word, and set down her cup, "No. That's not it. I think something happened, something you're not telling us. Something you'd very much like to share with someone and it's eating you alive, I can tell. My mate Jenny was the same way, jumping at every shadow and noise. Come to find out, when she finally couldn't hold it in any longer, that her abusive Ex had found out where her new flat was and had made threats. She didn't want to say anything, as not to worry anyone, because it was her own drama and thus she should take care of it herself."

Before Martha had a chance to continue I quickly cut in as she paused for breath, "While I hope that everything ended OK with Jenny I have to ask if there is a point to this story."

She huffed and rolled her eyes, "Yes there is. The point is, had she just said something and asked for help, should could have saved herself all the worrying and sleepless nights. She could have gotten back to normal life and had fun like the rest of us. So I'm asking you. Did anything happen when we left you by yourself at the party?"

Oh, when had she gotten so perceptive. Maybe I was just being too transparent and she somehow picked up on my hidden worry. Regardless of how she had come to her conclusion she was right about one thing, I was dying to tell someone about the man at the party. Yet, I had my reasons for remaining quiet on the topic. With a sigh I got up, taking my bowl with me to place in the sink on the green marbled counter top. I still found it odd that the TARDIS had such a normal non-alien kitchen inside, though it was a different one from the one I had used last time. Apparently there were several, all with different interior styles, this one was more British country side. Drumming my fingers on the counter I spun around to answer her. "Nothing happened," I assured, before making a vague inference that contradicted my statement, "but if say something _had_, figuratively of course, I wouldn't speak of it because I wouldn't wish for certain parties to become privy to certain details and make a big deal out of nothing and lock me away in a tower somewhere. But, like I said, it's nothing."

"What's nothing?"

The Doctor, hands in his blue pin striped suit, stood in the doorway; having snuck up like a proverbial ninja just at the end of our conversation. At least I had hoped. So as my brain was momentarily fried at how to respond I hastily turned to Martha for some form of explanation, hoping she wouldn't enlighten him of her earlier suspicions. Seeing my panic she spoke up, "Umm, us. We're doing nothing. We had just been wondering when our next adventure would be was all."

"Oh, what coincidence then," he smiled, "I was just coming to collect you two. Stumbled across the missing diary of Sir Francis Drake in the library. I must have collected it at some point and forgotten about it, then the TARDIS must have archived it for me...anyway his last entry seemed pretty odd, just cut off randomly. Raving about a strange window, or a crack, into another realm that was eating away at the sea. It was dated right about the time he took his six months to travel the Mediterranean, something that should have only taken him, as quite the experienced navigator, only two. Thought we might pop in, check it out, and solve one of histories many mysteries. So how 'bout it?"

Eager to distance myself from a possible headache, one I was sure Martha was keen on inducing since I didn't see her letting go of our earlier topic for long, I jumped at the idea of a distracting adventure. "Sounds like it could be interesting, I'm game."

Martha stood up and smiled excitedly, "Do you think they'll be pirates?"

* * *

><p>The TARDIS was quiet save it's normal humming as it flew idly through the time vortex; the console room for once wasn't bouncing around over every time slip. Before the Doctor had plotted the appropriate course he swiveled his attention back to the two of us, snapping his fingers together. "That's right, almost forgot, if you ladies could please hand over your mobiles for a quick tick, I can give them a much needed upgrade. After our last <em>encounter<em>," his eyes pivoted over accusingly in my direction for a second, "I realized it could have come in handy if you two could call the other. Especially if we end up getting split up. Again."

With a huff I pulled out my cell from my bag and plopped it into his waiting outstretched palm. Folding my arms over my chest I rolled my eyes. "Not my fault," I reiterated for the umpteenth time, "Besides, it was _my_ celebration. If I want to ruin it by mistaking a royal proposal for a simple normal greeting then by all means I'm allowed to. It's not my fault someone didn't warn me about certain cultural differences."

Extracting his sonic out of his coat the Doctor began buzzing the touch screen of the I-phone. Briefly he looked over and shook his head, "I didn't have too. The book I gave you two days ago should have covered it. Did you not finish it?"

"Finish it!? Doctor that wasn't a book! That, was a tome, and it was only volume one," I practically shouted, waving my hands exasperated in the air, "It was the complete webster's dictionary of alien customs, by the time I was a few pages into that monstrous sucker I was ready to throw it into an incinerator at how dry it was."

"So you didn't finish it?"

"Technically...no," I begrudgingly concurred before a small smile worked it's way onto my face, "But you have to agree it's much more fun learning first hand."

A cheeky smirk cut across his features as he finished whatever jiggery pokery he had been trying to accomplish with my phone. "Just next time try not to get engaged."

"I make no such promises," I shrugged, waving a finger around my face, "I can't help it that I'm so irresistible. But fret not, I promised Martha the next prince was all hers."

The Doctor handed back my phone trying not to smile as he grabbed Martha's. She chuckled next to me, gently jabbing my ribs with her elbow, "Let's just hope the next one doesn't have antlers sprouting out of his head."

"Ah, really? I thought they were very distinguished looking," I grinned, peering down at my cell's screen. _Universal roaming activated_ blipped across, alerting me of the new perk. I let out an _Ooh_ of appreciation and then decided to test out the new upgrade by belting out a text. Pulling up my contacts I began composing a quick message to the one person who'd slap me if I didn't update them of my current status of continued existence, _Hey, Alibear! Just sending you a text from inside the time vortex. Got engaged to some prince, not my fault, just though you should know. Explain later. _I checked the message before pressing send with a short laugh. Even more so when I got an immediate response of _WTF!? _I didn't bother replying. I decided I'd let her chew on that for a while for my own amusement, eventually I'd call to explain, but letting her imagination run wild was much more entertaining. I knew she'd be re-reading it over and over again wondering wether or not it was some joke.

"There we go! Universal Roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again," the Doctor announced, throwing Martha her phone as he twirled around the console pressing buttons and pulling levers as he went. She stared at the device in her hand with awed disbelief, "No way! But it's...too mad! You're telling me I can call anyone, anywhere in Space and Time on my mobile?!"

"Long as you know the area code. Frequent Fliers' privilege," he smiled fondly across the controls at the two of us, "Go on. Try it."

Just as Martha began to dial we instantly hit some form of turbulence, the suddenness knocked us all off our feet. A loud resounding alarm blared through the room as the screen before the Doctor beeped for attention. Pulling himself over, he clung onto the rim of the console, reading the prompt. Shouting over the noise he used his foot to hold a switch on the controls, "Distress signal! Locking on!"

Another violent shake of the time machine sent those of us who had tried to collect themselves off the floor back onto it, smacking into the metallic grating. As the room stopped moving the Doctor popped back up, his head poking over the console, "Turbulence. Sorry."

Hastily jumping up, he rushed towards the blue doors, bursting through them, "Come on Martha, Adler! Let's take a look!"

Groaning I got off the floor and followed after him, wondering out loud, "What about Sir Francis-Holy crap it's sweltering in here!"

A hot thick gust of steam sprayed across me as I stepped out of the doors into a red lit metallic boiler room. "Whoa," the Doctor commented examining the pipes, "Now that is hot!"

I had to agree enthusiastically. Which was why I had set my bag on the floor to rip off my red jacket in the blink of an eye, throwing it back into the TARDIS and barely missing Martha as she stepped out. "Ugh! It's like a sauna in here," she remarked, following suit and stripping out of her own jacket as well.

The Doctor leaned over to examine a few more of the pipes before standing up straight having worked something out. "Venting systems. Working at full pelt. Trying to cool down… Uh, where-ever it is we are," he mused before spotting a heavy door, "Well! If you can't stand the heat…"

Pushing the big thing open with a loud metallic scraping he poked his head out to check the surroundings first. Seeing that it was clear he opened it further to the rest of us. Quickly collecting my bag I followed after, eager to leave. As I entered the grungy metal hallway there was definitely a difference in temperature, it was much cooler than our previous room, though it was still balls hot and so sweat started accumulating on my brow. Of course, before I had a chance to take in our new location three people bolted towards us, each sweaty and dirty, yelling at our presence. "Oi you three," one of the men, the older one, shouted. The woman in the middle rushed forward, "Get out of there!"

As we stepped away from the door, a little confused at their urgency, the man who had shouted first pointed to one of his friends, "Seal that door! Now!"

Pulling out a large wrench the other man twisted the bolts on the door, working them tighter and tighter, sealing it. Something that wasn't very good considering our ride was in there. The woman, sweat dripping down her oil smudged face, bosom heaving underneath her black tank top, glared at us with suspicion. "Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"

Before we could answer, the earlier, younger, man eyed us slightly freaked, "Are you police?"

"Why would we be police" the Doctor asked, his question striking a cord. It was out of place, an odd thing to ask so out of the blue. I would have thought _how'd you get in here _would have been their first one. Martha quickly piped up, trying to rid the room of suspicion, a little upset by their welcome, "We got _your_ distress signal."

"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines," the Doctor inquired, addressing the woman. Losing a little of her earlier steam she answered, "It went dead four minutes ago."

"So maybe," one of the men growled at her, "we should stop chatting and get to engineering, Captain."

Before she could retort an alarm began to blare as a computer automated voice spoke over the sound system, "Secure closure active."

The female Captain's eyes widen as she twirled around, sending her blonde hair flying around her, "What!?"

"This ships gone mad," the young man stated quietly as he ran a hand down his grungy face. Suddenly another person came racing down the corridor, a woman, jumping through a door just as it slammed closed behind her. Speeding towards us she took one glance back at the door before angrily gazing at the group out of breath, "Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked into area 27."

Just as she said that another bulk head slammed shut, locking down the area after her. Noticing the new faces she posed a normal, if not a bit agitated, question, "Who are you?"

The Doctor, about to answer took a friendly step forward right as Martha beat him to it, "He's the Doctor, that's Echo and I'm Martha. Hello."

As the last words quietly left her she moved forward, almost in a trance, towards an opening in the metal plating that caught her attention. An orangey light shined through it, draping her in its glow as she looked out the glass. Alarm and panic overtook her features morbidly piquing my curiosity. Just what was she viewing that plastered that look on her face.

The computer animated voice rang out once again with an alert, "Impact projection: 42 minutes."

My brows scrunched up in confusion, "Wait!? What does it mean impact?"

The female captain gazed at the two of us with grim assurance, "We'll get out of this. I promise."

Martha shakily called out by the small golden window, moving closer towards it, "Doctor…"

Hearing the fear in her voice I made my way over to see what had her so freaked. The second I peered out that tiny hole I was quickly on the same page. There, through the glass, was the vast void of space; only it was swallowed by the large overpowering star we were slowly hurtling towards. Angry wisps of orange and yellows licked up towards us, as if it were hands trying to pull us into the fires. Something that explained the massive spike of heat. I gulped, worriedly calling our designated driver over, "Doctor."

"Forty-two minutes 'til what," he asked from behind us, still not hearing his name. Realizing he wasn't listening Martha shouted over more urgently, "Doctor! Look..."

Hearing the trembling fear taper off her command he ran over to join us by the view. The captain finally enlightened him of our current predicament just as he gazed out the glass. "Forty–two minutes until we crash into the sun."

He stared at that gaseous tumultuous giant for only a moment before making a mental assessment. Not one to waste time the Doctor raced over to the captain and, a little to roughly, gripped her arms with slight panic, "How many crew members on board?"

"Seven, including us."

"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship…," the middle aged man explained, the reason why there were so few. Looking at each of them the Doctor quickly raced back from where we'd came, trying to pry the door open, "Call the others, I'll get you out!"

The crew members immediately panicked and chased after him in horror. "What's he doing?!"

The captain shouted, "Doctor don't!"

Except it was too late, for whatever reason they didn't want him to open that door it soon became apparent as a he was flung backwards with a shout by a burst of steam. The room, so hot, was like a pressure cooker and so the force of it rushing out knocked him to the ground. Martha quickly moved to his aid, helping him back up as a woman wearing gloves and a welders helmet sprinted to fasten the door. The Doctor yelled in protest, "But my ship's in there!"

One of the men, the younger one, looked at him quizzically, "In the vent chamber?"

He turned to the captain, "It's our lifeboat!"

"It's lava," the older male corrected, crossing his arms. The female crew member took off her helmet and walked over to the dial on the wall, examining the readings. She almost whistled at what she saw, "The temperature's going mad in there! Up 3000 degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."

"Channelling the air," the young male crew member explained, "The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's gonna get."

Martha sucked in a hot breath of air and turned to the Doctor with contempt, "We're stuck here."

"So," he drawled out, "We fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the Sun! Simple! Engineering down here, is it?!"

"Yes," the captain breathed just as he pushed past her to gallop down a corridor on our left. Begrudgingly, as everything was way to hot, everyone trailed after him careful of the piles of small containers lining the sides. The computer informed us once more, in a calm voice, of our impending deadline, "Impact in 40.26."

* * *

><p>The Doctor raced down a set of stairs and disappeared into the engine room bellow. The rest of us trampled down after him walking into quite the mess. The metallic room was in chaotic disarray; wires, springs and titanium tubing hung limply and broken from the ceiling. Pipes lay cracked and smashed spewing fourth hot bursts of steam blanketing the rusting machinery in a film of condensation and glass from shattered casings crunched underfoot.<p>

"Blimey," the Doctor remarked examining the state of the equipment, "Do you always leave things in such a mess?"

"Oh my god!" The female captain exclaimed examining the state of her engine room. The older male shipmate shouted with frustrated disbelief, "What the hell happened?!"

"Oh," the younger male commented, approaching the machine in the middle of the room, the main component," it's wrecked."

"Pretty efficiently too," the Doctor added inspecting one of the engines, "Someone knew what they were doing."

Moving away from the machinery he wandered over to a computer terminal attached to one of the wrecked panels and began throwing up screens; searching through their database. He pulled on his sleek black specs in preparation to do a bit of digging. The captain, to busy to care about his curiosity, looked around the room, "Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"

"No," the older male answered, holding up a flashlight as he began looking at what systems to repair. Martha's voice shook lightly as things were definitely starting to appear pear shaped, "You mean someone did this on purpose?!"

"We'll it definitely didn't happen by itself," I frowned as a spring shot across the room from built pressure. The captain marched over to a communication device on the wall and pressed the speaker, "Korwin? Ashton? Where are you?"

She received no answer, just silence, and the other female watched unnerved by the lack of response. The captain pressed the intercom once more, "Korwin, can you answer?!"

Met with only more silence she pushed away from the speaker in frightened frustration, "Where the hell is he? He should be up here!"

No one answered the woman as she began to pace, each to busy starting repairs on the wreckage. The Doctor smiled as a new window appeared on the computer screen of an odd solar system, "Oh! We're in the Torajji system! Lovely! You're a long way from home, Martha, Adler. Half a universe away."

Martha scoffed sarcastically, "Yeah. Feels it."

"You just take us to all the nicest places don't you," I remarked jokingly, wiping a bit a sweat off my brow. I hated hot places. Never could stand them, when it became to hot you could only take off so many clothes to cool down before it was socially unacceptable. Unlike with the cold, where you just kept adding more, granted you'd look strange but no one would comment. It's why I grabbed a scrunchie out of my bag and pulled my hair into a large messy bun, alleviating some of the heat.

The Doctor, either not picking up on the sarcasm or dismissing it, left the terminal and approached the floundering captain. Leaning a hand against a ladder he homed in with some questions that had been bothering him, "And, you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"

The young male crew member stepped down that ladder, carrying a bunch of equipment on his back, just at the end of the question and shifted rather guiltily, eyeing his captain with a pointed gaze. Quickly dismissing the question she gave an excuse. "We're due to upgrade next docking," she informed matter-of-factly, walking away from the conversation before barking out orders, "Scannell, engine report!"

The older male, or Scannell, hurried over to the computer terminal the Doctor had previously been messing with. Everyone anxiously peered over his shoulder as he mucked around with the keys, pulling up readings and windows. The machine beeped several times as he agitatedly tried to type in an input. "No response."

Pushing away from the computer he ran back over to the wrecked engine as the captain gasped a scared _What!? _The woman in her disbelief began fiddling with the screen herself, only to receive the same error noise. Martha and I turned to each other with slight worry, nothing anyone had been saying so far had sounded reassuring. Scannell grabbed a bulky flashlight on his way and grabbed some of the protruding exposed wires, examining each of them with grim knowledge, "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."

"Oh come on," the Doctor exclaimed a bit irked by their defeatist attitudes as he pulled of his specs, "Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!"

"We don't have access from here," the captain rolled her eyes and defensively leaned her hands on her hips, "The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship."

"Yeah, with 29 password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time," Scannell piped in. Martha looked at him slightly put out, "Can't you override the doors?"

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all deadlock sealed."

The Doctor winced as the plan that had begun to form in his noggin crumbled at the word _deadlocked_, "So a sonic screwdriver's no use…"

Scannell shook his head shrugging with a fatalistic attitude, "Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."

The Doctor furrowed his brows with exasperation. "Oh, listen to you! Defeated before you've even started! Where's your Dunkirk spirit," he turned to the captain, "Who's got the door passwords?"

The young male crew-mate interrupted his superior before she could speak, the only person that seemed to have retained a glimmer of hope amongst his peers, "They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of 'em. Sorry. Riley Vashti."

"Then what're you waiting for Riley Vashti, get on it," the Doctor ordered, taking command of the situation. "Well, it's a two-person job," Riley answered before running over to a shelf, retrieving a big metal clamp and a large bagpack, "One, it takes to answer the questions, and the other to carry this."

He turned to his captain with a joking grin, "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh captain?"

She cocked her head to the side, jaw gritting slightly at the jab before throwing one right back, "Reliable and simple, just like you, eh Riley?"

He shrugged the bagpack onto his back, "Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice!"

"I'll help you. Make myself useful," Martha piped up, grabbing the large clamp from him. I went to offer my assistance as well but noticed the look the Doctor shot me the moment he felt my shift in emotion and thought better of it. It was clear he was still a bit wary of letting me out of his sights, unless of course we were on the TARDIS, then I could managed to be alone for quite some time before he popped his face around. Still, it was a bit annoying to have him so underfoot all the time, where ever we went, but I kept that tidbit of information to myself. He might have been able to feel it, but he'd never know what my frustration was aimed or caused by.

Riley shot Martha a flirtatious grin before starting to lead her away, "It's remotely controlled by computer panel. That's why it needs two."

"Oi," the Doctor called out seriously, causing her to turn back at his tone, "Be careful."

Probably reading a little too much into the meaning of his motive Martha smiled back wistfully, "You too."

Not wasting anymore time she raced after Riley who disappeared back up the stairs, shooting me a quick wave goodbye as she past. Suddenly a male voice called out over the intercom panel, sending a ping in alert, "McDonnell? It's Ashton."

The captain, McDonnell, hastily rushed over to press the receiver, "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"

"Get up to the med-centre NOW!" He ordered with dead seriousness, casting an already urgent atmosphere on the situation at the lack of why. The other two crew members turned to each other with a growing panic. Quickly McDonnell raced away from the intercom back up those metal stairs shouting orders as she went, "Erina, Scannell, I want those engines up and running when I get back. Do you hear me!"

Not one to be left out of the important stuff, the Doctor chased after her, "Come on' Echo!"

Knowing my cue I trampled back up the metal steps, passing Martha and Riley who were setting up outside the engine room, getting ready to open the first bulkhead. Speedily turning we leapt up another set of stairs as the computer automated voice called out once more, "Impact in 34.31."

* * *

><p>I could hear the male screams of agony before we reached to the Med-bay, reverberating down the hall in tortured pain. His shouts for relief echoed down the corridor, "Argh! Stop it!"<p>

A panicked female voice tried to placate him, "Korwin! It's Abi! Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you!"

As we ran through a sheet of plastic covering, into the red and orange room, a man thrashed about wildly on an MRI bed as another man and woman in maroon scrubs stood over him, trying to restrain him as he spasmed and convulsed. McDonnell sprinted over at his sounds of torment, "Korwin! What's happened?! Is he OK?!"

Korwin seized in hysterics, crying and screaming all at once, "Oh God! Help me! It's burning me!"

The Doctor walked over to the edge of the bed, examining the man for injuries but, like me, saw none. "How long's he been like this," he asked. Abi attempted to keep him still to give him medical care but he struggled to much for her to get any leverage, "Ashton just brought him in."

"What's wrong with him," I asked worriedly, each scream rippled across my mind in empathy for the man. The physician shook her head, "I don't know. I can't get a good look at him because we're tryin' to keep 'im restrained."

Seeing they had their hands full the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and stuck it near the man's face to gather a reading. McDonnell panicked, "What are you doing?!"

"Sonic impulse," he off handedly answered. She rushed next to Korwins side, pushing past Ashton, and attempted to block him, not that it stopped him, "Don't be so stupid, that's my husband!"

Ashton growled from beside her, "And he's just sabotaged our ship!"

"What?!"

Turning around she gazed at him wide eyed and in disbelief before returning her attention to her husband, rubbing a comforting hand across his forehead. "He went mad," Ashton bit out, "He set the ship to secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."

She continued to stare at her husband, deep emotions beginning to well in her eyes, "No way! He wouldn't do that!"

"I saw it happen, Captain," Ashton snarled, trying to keep the other man's legs from flailing around and kicking him in the face. It was at that moment the Doctor finished his scans and retracted his device. "Korwin," he asked, "Korwin, open your eyes for me for a second."

"I can't!" The man screamed through the pain, his face contorting in agony. The Doctor looked down at him and spoke with a gentle tone, "Yeah, course you can. Go on."

"Don't make me look at you! Please!" He whimpered, appearing about ready to cry. Except while everyone just saw a man in pain, one who appeared to be the saboteur, I saw a scared man, a terrified man. So I had to know. Why was he so afraid? "Why," I asked, "What are you afraid will happen Korwin. Why don't you want to open them?"

"I-I'll, if I-if I-if I open-," Korwin tried to answer, stumbling over the pain to speak, almost manic with trying to get the words out before he screamed once more. Moving down the bed the Doctor, finally having had enough, picked up a red gun, that looked similar to an air gun, off a medical tray. "Alright, alright, alright. Just relax," he held the instrument up to Abi, "Sedative?"

She nodded her head, "Yes."

Pressing the device up to his exposed neck the Doctor administered the sedative as Korwin shouted from the injection. Then, as the blue liquid disappeared beneath his skin, he let out one final cry before becoming still, all limbs falling limp at the side. Placing the gun back on the tray the Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the bed as he watched the sleeping man.

"What's wrong with him," the captain asked, gazing at her husband helplessly. "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings…," the Doctor informed trailing off into thought before pointing to the MRI machine, "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature."

Abi, the ships medic, eyed at him with uncertainty but did as he suggested and walked over to a panel on the machine, typing in some inputs. "And, just for fun," he added, "run a bio-scan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."

She canted her head back from what she was doing with exasperation, "Just doing them now."

"Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"

"Not so far," she shook her head looking down at her patient. The Doctor sighed, "Well, that's something."

McDonnell, finally having had enough, turned to the two medical professionals with frustration, "Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?!"

Now there was I question I myself had wanted answered. That animalistic panic that had shone earlier in his eyes had me worried that we'd stumbled across something more than just a crashing ship. "Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results," the Doctor answered, then ordered the captain about, "Now, Allons-y, back downstairs. Ay! See about those engines. Go."

I groaned at the word _infection_. Great the daft man had brought us to an outbreak, there had better be no space zombies. I don't do zombies, especially in space, unless it was a video game, as I didn't wish to end up as the undead. With my luck I'd be the first to contract what ever disease we'd found ourselves wallowing around in, I had a weak constitution as a child so I always ended up with the seasons cold. Something I'm sure that had to do with my mangled biology due to whatever whammy my father had inflicted upon me as a toddler. Now there was a topic I had yet to bring up to the Doctor; the fact I remembered a few small tidbits of my short timelord childhood. Shifting I watched him order Ashton and McDonnell out of the room, wondering if I should bring the subject to his attention at some point. Or, should it be yet another thing I kept to myself.

"Ay! Go," the timelord commanded of the lingering captain. She took one last tentative glance back towards her still husband and slipped out the doorway. Before I had a chance to registered what was going on he gripped my hand and pulled me along out to the hallway, "Call us if there's news! Any questions?"

Scoffing Abi called out after us, "Yeah. Who are you?"

Twirling us around he popped his head back into the room, past the plastic curtains, to get the last word, "I'm the Doctor!"

And with that we raced back towards the engine room, our hurried steps jumping down the corridor as we went. Glancing back the Doctor shot me a worried look, "Are you all right?"

"Of course," I stated keeping up with him more easily than I used to, "why wouldn't I be."

"You still haven't learned to properly erect emotional barriers," he informed before sending me one of his more trademark soul peering gazes and pressed on, "So I'll ask again. Are you all right?"

I swallowed looking caught. My mind raced for a lie that he'd believe but I had a feeling he wouldn't be so easily fooled like the last time so I opted for another solution. Diversion. "Doctor do you really think now is the time."

He regarded me carefully, wondering wether or not what was bothering me was to important to dismiss so easily. "Fine, but we will talk about this later."

* * *

><p>I sat dejectedly on a metal crate, elbows resting on my knees and head resting on my hands, watching the crew fuss around with the mechanics of the engine room. I would have been more useful if I had gone with Riley and Martha, but someone had to be all attached-to-the-hip. Which left me with nothing to do but sweat since I knew nothing about spaceship mechanics. Hell, watching everyone work was making me sweat in that unmanageable heat. The Doctor was even dripping a bit as he walked over to the intercom, having left monkeying around with a broken control panel to check on everyones progress. "Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"<p>

The ships physician's answered back over the speaker, "He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know."

Letting go of the call button he walked back over to the wreckage before, as he never was one to wait the long way, he rushed back to the intercom and phoned our friend. "Martha? Riley? How're you doing?"

Martha's voice called out over the speaker with an update, "Area twenty-nine, at the door to twenty-eight!"

Throwing on his sexy specs, the Doctor pulled up some ship readings on the screen attached to the panel in the wall. He frowned at the readout of the failing heat shields, "You've gotta move faster!"

Martha scoffed, shouting back, "We're doing our best!"

Leaving the device on he moved back over to the engines, lending Scannell a helping hand. Riley's voice blared from the speaker as he read out loud some question, "Find the next number in the sequence: 313, 331, 367… what?"

Martha's shaky voice addressed him, "You said the crew knew all the answers."

"The crew's changed since we set the questions," Riley admitted. "You're joking…," I heard her groan over the com. The Doctor, who had been listening intently to their conversation, rushed back over towards the intercom, pressing the call button, "379!"

"What?!" Martha exclaimed. He rolled his eyes, "It's a sequence of happy primes. 379."

"Happy what?"

"Just enter it!" he shouted with frustration. "Are you sure," Riley asked doubtfully, "We only get one chance!"

He glared at the screen before belting out in that fast paced way he was prone to do when annoyed having to explain things down to people. "Any number which reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number which is both happy and prime, now type it in!"

He turned to McDonnell as she descended the ladder next to him, "I dunno, talk about dumbing down! Don't they teach recreational mathematics any more?"

His eyes passed over me and I shrugged, the effort seemed much more strenuous than I thought it would be in the stifling air, "I wouldn't know, didn't pay attention in math, to busy doodling all over the handouts. Not that I failed. I received A's in all my classes, I just never tried, math especially."

"We're through!" Martha called out, cutting off any comment the Doctor may have had on my earlier one.

"Keep moving. Fast as you can," he ordered before removing his glasses and quietly added with a sensitive tone, "And, Martha, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."

I could hear her sarcasm radiating through the speaker, "Any time you wanna unnerve me, feel free!"

"Will do, thanks."

Switching off the com he wandered back over to the engine, but not before leaning down as he past to give me a similar message, "That goes double for you. Don't be wandering off by yourself. There's more going on here than a broken ship falling into the sun."

"Aye aye captain," I remarked trying to smile, only to have it produce more of a wincing effect. It was to damn hot to do anything more. He patted my head affectionately before returning to work, leaving me once more to feel useless but at the same time thankful for not having to move. The computer announced our impending doom once again, it was beginning to grow in annoyance the further it informed us that fact, "Impact in 30. 50."

I heard the Doctor groan in frustration as he began pulling pieces and wires from the engine with speed, scraping things that were unsalvageable the minute he spotted them. He pulled up a mass of red wires holding plug outlets and gazed at each of the crew members, "We need a backup in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time. Come on! Think! Resources, what have we got?!"

They stared at him mid task, not sure of how to respond. Thankfully for them they didn't need to as Martha called over the intercom again. "Doctor?"

"What is it now!?"

"Who had the most number ones, Elvis, or the Beatles. That's pre-download," she asked. I wondered who had come up with some of those questions as I could see the crew wracking their brains over the numbers. Confidently the Doctor quickly replied. "Elvis. No! The Beatles! No! Wait! Um… um…," he smacked the back of his head as he tried to recall the information stuck in his brain only, like an overheating computer, his mind was running to frazzled to due the rising heat, "Argh! What was that remix? Um… I don't know! I am a bit busy!"

"Fine," she grumbled, "I'll ask someone else! Echo do you know?"

"I'm pretty sure it's Elvis, my mom was a huge fan," I shrugged, leaning against the metal frame of the room. I felt like I was cooking in an oven.

"Alright. Thanks."

"Now, where was I," the Doctor mused, "Here comes the sun. No, resources. So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that.. ah!"

"Use the generator to jump-start the ship," McDonnell finished for him, having worked it out. He shot a finger in her direction, "Exactly! At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."

"That…," she quirked her head to the side, "is brilliant."

"I know! See! Tiny glimmer of hope," he smiled using his high voice to lighten the mood causing the crew to smile back. Knowing there was a way out of the dire situation they all seemed to be fairing better, well all except one. "If it works," Scannell added pessimistically.

The captain shot him a cynical look, "Oh, believe me. You're gonna make it work."

Sending the Doctor a nasty glance Scannell walked away to find parts dejectedly. Ashton and the timelord smiled, staring at McDonnell with open admiration.

"That told him!" The Doctor grinned while the countdown uttered its minute to minute update. "Impact in 29.46."

Alright that stupid computer had to go. If I was going to die I didn't need an update about it every minute to remind me. "Doctor," I called out as he galloped past me to grab some couplings and wires. "Later Adler. I'm a bit busy at the present."

"But could you just-," I started asking for him to shut the countdown off but he thrust a bunch of wires into my arms, effectively cutting me off. "Here," he said before handing me a pair of pliers as well, "Strip these wires would you, at both ends, and don't cut the metal."

"Alright, but-"

"We're going to need them soon, so as fast as you can," he added racing off towards the other end of the room to grab some filaments to bind to the engine's carburetor. I sighed seeing I wasn't going to get his full attention and began stripping the wires, at least I finally had something useful to contribute to the situation. Using the pliers I stripped the rubber bits off with relative ease, leaving an inch and a half of metal exposed for them to bind together. When I was about halfway finished with the tangled pile Abi from med-bay called out over the intercom, her voice wavered with fear and the whole crew halted their progress to listen intently. "Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me."

He stood up from the engine, "What d'you mean?"

"Well, Korwin's body's changing! His whole biological make-up, it…it's impossible."

The line went silent for a second and everyone looked towards the speaker, eagerly waiting for her to elaborate. Except, when she had crackled back over the intercom, her voice came out in a panicked shout, "This is med-centre. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!"

Dread and shock washed over the Doctor as he twirled on foot and pelted for the stairs shouting as he careened up the steps. "Stay here! Keep working! You to Echo!"

"You're doing it again!" I shouted after him as McDonnell sprinted behind him. His voice trailed down to the room, moving father away, "I know."

Abi's voice rang out over the speakers again even louder, "Urgent assistance!"

Erina rushed over to the intercom just as Scannell followed after his captain, "Abi. They're on their way."

The line stayed open to the med bay so we could still hear Abi as she spoke to Korwin, trying to reason with him. "What's happening to you?"

A deep voice answered back, one that only slightly resembled the man she was addressing, "Burn with me."

An electric shock of fear slithered up my spine at the deep timber. "Burn with me," he reiterated. Helplessly we listened in the quiet of the engine room, no one moved or breathed as Abi, so frightened, tried to reason with her patient. "K... Korwin, you're sick…"

"Burn. With. Me!"

Suddenly screaming blared over the intercoms, loud and long before it, in one swift motion, cut off. I stared wide eyed at the speaker, waiting and praying for some sign that she was ok. All three of us paused in the silence, our imagination only painting grim outcomes of Abi's fate. But no assurances came. The only sound was that of our labored breathing as the computer rang out once again, "Impact in 27.06."

Ashton was the first to speak up, "Right. Erina get back to task. We need to get this ship up and running, pronto. We can't worry about Abi right now, I'm sure she's going to be alright. And you," he turned towards me, "Keep striping those wires. Once you're done you can hand me tools as I need them."

I nodded my head and got back to work, shucking the wires of plastic much faster than I had been doing so before. We needed to get off this ship. I had no idea what was happening but like the crew had been saying, this ship had gone mad. "Erina, can you go and grab me an extra piston," Ashton asked as he tightened some bolts on the side of the engine. With a huff she ran over to some shelving and looked up and down till she spotted what she was searching for. Racing back over she handed him the item before she went back to binding couplings together on the other side of the engine.

"Erina," he called again, "Can you get me a laser spanner, a torch, and drill."

Growling under her breath, grumbling about _bossy old prat_, she got up to search through the shelves once again. With a huff she wiped some sweat off her brow before leaning a hand against her hip, "I don't see any over here."

"Well, go check up top will yah!? They should be in the storage cupboards and while you're out there if you could grab some extra parts that would be most helpful."

Her nostrils flared as her hands squeezed into fists, but she bit her tongue and did as she was told, disappearing up the steps. "Hey," he turned towards me and so I looked up from what I was doing, "I need some help getting one of the main components onto the dolly so if you could come over and give me a hand."

Setting the pliers onto the crate and placing the pile of wires next to them I moved to the other side of the room to Ashton. Bending down together we hefted the small, yet heavy, engine chaise onto the bed so he could roll it over. Dusting myself off I walked back over to my perch. Grabbing the pliers and a wire I started finished up with the last of my pile just as McDonnell came over the Com system. "Everybody listen to me! Something has infected Korwin. We think…," she paused before amending her last words, "He killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"

Ashton made his way over to the intercom, "Understood captain."

Pressing a button on the wall panel he changed the channel, "Erina? Get back here with that equipment."

She didn't reply, not that I thought she would, I didn't think she like Ashton all that much. Though it was to be expected that people would grate on each others nerve more as the heat would make anyone irritable. He scoffed as he turned it off, "Don't know why I bother. She doesn't listen. And you," he pointed, "since you're done go and grab that tool box on the upper tier for me and be careful climbing down the ladder."

Gazing up through the grates I spotted a rectangular red metal box laying halfway off the walkway. "You mean that red one there."

"Yes. Now get a move on."

"Alright, alright. I was just making sure," I waved my hands in surrender as I turned towards the ladder. Gripping a metal bar I began hefting myself up the ladder, the computer calling out in the background, "Impact in 24.51."

* * *

><p>"Hey sparky, have you got that crank shaft yet!?" Ashton yelled from down bellow, working underneath the engine. My new monicker due to fact that I accidentally electrocuted myself helping him install a part. Stopping my search I popped my head over the railing, "You know if you guys had organized things better up here I wouldn't have such a hard time finding it in the pile of junk you have accumulating in your small storage area."<p>

"Just hurry up and find it."

"Well it'd be a lot easier if you stopped interrupting me," I shot back moving parts around loudly. I didn't worry about getting cut in my frantic pursuit as I had recently acquired a pair of thick working gloves from my new boss. "Oi, don't you be giving me lip kid. I was just starting to like you."

I smirked as I moved a big box out of the way, scraping it against the metal. He was a funny sort, once you got past the crotchety old man facade. Martha's voice rang out over the intercom, "Doctor, we're through to area 17."

"Keep going," his voice called out through the speaker, "you've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."

I casted a quick glance down towards the intercom bellow before returning to my task. As I opened up a bit more space I spotted a crank shaft glinting in the artificial light between a 3 foot gyro and a pile of tangled titanium cables. Snatching the odd shaped thing I called out in triumph, "I found it!"

"Great, now bring it down," he paused as a few loud bangs resounded through the room, "Oh good. You got those tools Erina? Cause I...woah!"

My face scrunched in confusion at his sudden change in tone so I quickly popped back to the side railing, "Ashton are you-"

I froze, eyes stretched in terror at the sight before me. A man wearing a welders helmet held Ashton up by the lapel's, his feet slightly dangling underneath him. "Korwin… it's me. We're mates!"

"They are getting too far," the deep gravely voice distorted from the helmet, "We must share the light."

Briefly I could hear the Doctor's worried voice call my name out over the intercom, having must felt my fear by then, but all noise just seemed to fade away as time itself slowed down around me. In reality nothing had changed, it was just my own perceptions, and I was aware of that, except something then seemed to snap. Instantly my hand wrapped around a large wrench laying on a control panel and I slid down the ladder just as Ashton let out a scream of pain, his face beginning to smolder and smoke. Raising the large tool in the air I ran across the room and swung at Korwin to try and separate them. To save him. Only it all seemed to be in vain. I hit the helmet and it didn't even seem to phase him.

Korwin dropped Ashton, who clutched at his eyes in agony screaming as he stumbled away; bumping and knocking things over as he fumbled up the stairs case. I stared in shock before raising the wrench once more only Korwin's hand shot out and grabbed it. His head slowly turned towards me as my breath came in short fast bursts, my hearts pumping double time as my core temperature almost seemed to triplicate. A pressure started to build in my head and I knew then I was in trouble, and it wasn't because of the infected Korwin.

As my vision swam he began lifting the black visor up, all the while my insides felt like a pressure cooker about to explode. The pain, similar to the one I had felt in the mirror world bubbled up. Oh, god. I was going to explode again, and in the engine room, that be suicide to the ship. Somewhere I could hear the Doctor's frantic voice calling out, trying to calm me down. And right as Korwin was about to fully open his visor he stopped midway and re-closed it. It was then time he traced a hand near my face, catching the golden particles beginning to float away from me, the autron energy building, begging for release while I struggled to keep it in. "Mmmmmmm," Korwin's deep distorted voice growled as played with the golden energy, "a light burns in you."

"Listen," I managed to grit out between painful burst, "why are you doing this?"

"They stole it."

"Stole what," I asked. He just stared, hand paused in mid-action, his head canting to the side. As silence ticked away, I attempted to imagine a tranquil space inside my mind, managing by some miracle to gain some control and work my way back to a safe level of emotion; something the Doctor had briefly taught me for a just in case scenario. Instantly, as the dancing light started to die down around me, Korwin tightened his grip on the wrench.

"No!" he shouted, pushing me back while swinging the tool out of my grip. As it flung up, with a swift force, it managed to catch my jaw as I stumbled backward. Before I knew it, careening towards the floor, I fell into darkness.

* * *

><p><em>Everything smelt of cooked flesh and burnt rubber as fires crackled and sparks flew over head. For a moment I had thought we were breaking apart in the sun, that the ship had been lost, but as my eyes blearily opened scanning the wreckage around me I realized I was not where I had been. I emitted a strangled cry, yet hadn't remembered producing the action. It was as small hands tugged and fumbled with the strap trapping me that I figured out where I was and that I was only an observer.<em>

_As the world, leaning slightly on its side, focused around me so to did the mutilated corpses amid the destroyed TARDIS, their lifeless eyes watching me, their slackened burnt faces frozen in their last moments. Wires dangerously hanging down sparked precariously over water as fires burned in and around the console; a klaxon bell screeched out its strangled cry, trying to drive me out with the smoke. The clip finally released and I fell forward to the floor, my hands landing onto broken glass. I screamed, padding them away from the object that caused the pain and stumbled upright, crying for someone to make the hurt better. But no one came._

_Waddling around I wailed for help, knowing that someone was supposed to fix hurts when they happened. That someone was supposed to hold me, hug me, make the bad stuff go away, but I couldn't find them. I didn't know where they were. I couldn't remember who they were. Snot and hot tears trailed freely down my face as I hiccuped and cried calling out to that nameless thing. Yet nothing answered._

_I moved around bodies in search of that thing, when I saw a light shining through the door. I cried quieter and hiccuped, wiping away the tears and snot into an awful mess and made for the brightness. I ran from the darkness of that room as fast as my small legs could carry me. For a moment, as the light engulfed me, I had entertained the idea that the thing I was searching for must be out in the light, away from the scary dark; but as I fell forward, into the white and the cold, I found myself even more alone. The wetness and the white stuff stung my skin, biting against it and rubbed it raw._

_I stood up, painting the snow with droplets of red, as I stumbled forward once more. I cried hard into the freezing powder as it nipped at me, stealing and sucking away my earlier warmth with greedy mouths. My wailing echoed into the silence as the white floated down from the sky, collecting in the barren maple trees, their branches like awaiting hands clawing for the falling bits. I didn't like that new place. It was worse than the last. I was more alone in that void of endless white than in the fiery darkness. I turned to go back, back to the place that I had known, that was slipping from my mind like sand through my toes. But as I twirled around, that red box had began to shrink and compact, running away from me into itself; being sucked into some hole._

_With a cry I rushed forward tripping over my numb feet, trying to grab the only place I knew. But it went away. Disappeared right before my eyes, imploding upon itself, leaving me behind. With a shuttering wail I laid face down in the snow, sobs wracked my small frame as I called out once again for that nameless thing. Apologizing for what ever bad thing I had done to make it go away, to deserve it's anger. I figured if I had said it enough times they'd come back. No one ever did._

_As I laid there, till my teeth stopped chattering and I could no longer feel my body, the sobs started to subside, but the tears never stopped falling even as they left red frozen paths down my cheeks. Why hadn't they come back? Why had they left me? Was I a bad girl? I wiped at the tears calling once more for that nameless thing to come and save me, to pick me up and make me better. But no one ever came and I didn't know why. Didn't they love me?_

_ Picking myself off the ground I called out to them, my cry echoing back to mock me. Whimpering, I waded through the snow. I wept once more, attempting to wipe the snot freezing on my face away, "I sowy. Pweas. I sowy."_

My eye's shot open as a few tears slipped across my face. A worried McDonnell and Scannell popped into view as I quickly wiped the offending liquid away. "Are you alright," the captain asked reaching an arm down to help me onto my feet. As I stood up, wobbling for a moment as I regained balance I answered, only to grab my jaw in pain soon after, "Yeah. I just-ah! OoOoO got knock in the jaw good by Korwin. He's infected Ashton."

"Oh god," she uttered with a shuttered breath. Scannell moved away from the scene and began scanning the engine. "I'm sorry," I apologized, "I tried to save him but Korwin was to strong...anyway are we any closer to averting impact."

"No," Scannell growled, "Someone's hacked into the systems. I can't reroute the generators! There's no way I'm gonna be able to jump-start this ship!"

With a kick of rage he swiftly hit the machine and stormed off towards the stairs, "Who the hell did that?!"

The captain shook her head and with a deep breath tried to remain calm. Something I myself was trying to do, but failed when she looked behind me in shock and fear. Quickly twirling around Korwin strode out of the smoke, so, backing up, I attempted to pull McDonnell with me but she refused to budge. "McDonnell, we need to leave," I growled lowly at her so only she could hear, "He's not the man you used to know."

She shook her head as her eyes began to gloss over as she took a step back, "No. Korwin? What are you? Why are you killing my crew?!"

He glided after us, moving his hand to lift his visor up, but was stopped by his wife's next sentence. "How could you do this? What have you done to my husband?!"

When he stopped so did she. He tipped his head to the side watching her. A glimmer of hope shined in McDonnell's eyes. "You recognize me. Korwin! You know me," she stated, whispering the last bit with emotion, tearing up as his hand fell away from his helmet, "It's Kath! Your wife!"

"My wife?" Korwins distorted voice asked, as if he was trying to remember something from long ago. "That's right," she almost cried, "You're still in there! I'm your wife!"

I almost cried myself at the love welling up in her voice. Sometimes, I loathed to admit, but I was a sucker for a love story. Even if I didn't think it was something for me. Unfortunately the moment was soon shattered. Korwin took a step forward, "It's your fault."

The captains face fell at his accusation, her hope disappearing. Quickly I began pulling her back as he started advancing forward once again. She appeared distraught, gazing at him with disbelief, "What do you mean, it's my fault?"

"It's your fault," he reiterated, "Now burn with me!"

Stopping he pulled a hand to his visor, almost able to flip the lid when a jet of frost engulfed him in a stream of it's vapors. Korwin screamed at the cold. Turning around I spotted Scannell spinning a pressure gauge to release the opening above the infected man. "What are you doing?!" the captain shouted at him. Spinning the wheel as fast as he could, Scannell refused to look away, needing to make sure he finished the job for reassurance, "Freezing him! Ice vents!"

"You'll kill him!"

The captain made to run for her husband, to push him out of the way when Scannell quickly yelled at me, "Grab her!"

"I'm so sorry," I apologized wrenching her back and away from the vent. She struggled and writhed against my grip, "NO, let me go! Please. I have to save him."

Crying out the last part she slid to the ground as Korwin fell to his knees and stopped screaming, before careening forward, smashing to the floor. I could barely look at her, just kept apologizing, over and over again. Though they felt more like hollow assurances, knowing nothing would ever make her feel better. With a few shutter sobs she took a deep breath and stood up, wiping away the evidence from her face as she quickly collected herself.

The Doctor's voice rang out over the intercom, "McDonnell! Ashton's heading in your direction! He's been infected, just like Korwin!"

Scannell walked over to the com unit and press the call button, "We know. Korwin's dead, Doctor."

"And is…" he tapered off. The engineer cast a glance in my direction, "She's fine. She's down here with us."

"Echo," he called out. I moved over to the com as Scannell pushed over to the side to give me some room, "Yes, Doctor."

"Don't ever do that to me again."

I smiled ruefully as I leaned my head against the wall, "Trust me. I wasn't planning to."

* * *

><p>The room was eerily quiet as McDonnell knelt down next to her dead husband, sniffling as she took off his mask to gaze at his face, pushing the welders helmet away with contempt. The computer rang out, rudely interrupting her moment, "Impact in 17.05."<p>

I shifted guiltily, I knew we needed to move and start fixing the ship, but she had just lost her husband and I had played apart in that death. I didn't feel right to rush her. Fortunately, that was not the case for her crew-mate. Scannell cautiously approached her and crouched down across from her, over her dead husband, "What did he mean, your fault?"

She didn't answer, to alone in her own world to be bothered with his question as she stroked Korwin's face lovingly. Except before she could make contact he swatted her hand away, "What are you doing? Don't touch him, he's infected. You don't know how it spreads."

McDonnell snapped out of her thoughts and jerked her head up, glaring at him with a dark look. "You murdered him," she shouted before shifting her accusing eyes towards me, "And you helped!"

Swallowing I quickly looked away, even if it was to save her life I still felt guilty, "I'm sorry."

She snarled, "I don't want your words!"

"He was about to kill you!" Scannell argued. She shook her head, "He recognized me!"

"You heard the Doctor. It…it isn't Korwin anymore."

"The Doctor doesn't know! None of us knows!"

"So what are you gonna do? Stay there until we burn?! Cause without you…none of us stand a chance of getting out of here."

McDonnell appeared surprised by his confession, that he had that much faith and respect for her. I felt like I was intruding on a moment as they stared at each other in silent camaraderie. Though the mood was soon shattered and the Doctor's voice barked orders over the intercom. "Scannell! Echo! I need a spacesuit in area 17, now!"

His face scrunched in confusion as he slowly stood up, "What for?"

"Just get down here!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. I could feel his panic and anger as he lost control of his barrier for a moment. All those heightened emotions swirling and raging towards me were caused by one thing, he was scared. What ever he needed the suit for didn't bode well. Something terrible had happened. Instantly his walls came crashing down, violently booting me out that it gave me a splitting head ache. I grasped my head in pain, squeezing my eyes shut till it lessened.

"Well, go on! Do what he says!" McDonnell weakly ordered. He peered back at her worriedly, "Ashton's still out there."

Something hard gleamed in her eyes, "I'll deal with him."

Scannell hesitantly moved away, watching the captain as she nodded him along. He turned back towards me, "Well come on. We better hurry."

Taking my hand away from my head with a wince I gave McDonnell one last look of apology before running after the engineer. I only hoped the dread forming in the pit of my stomach wasn't a prelude to whatever horrible situation that had the Doctor terrified.

* * *

><p>The minute I laid eyes on him and then the unopened bulkhead, the clamp and computer unit laying haphazardly on the floor, I knew something was wrong. His jaw was set into a hard line as he leaned his hands against a door and stared out it's small window. Sucking in a sharp breath of air I asked the only question that popped into my mind. "Where's Martha?"<p>

Quickly he looked over, having not heard us arrive, to busy fuming in his thoughts. His eyes instantly honed in on the big welt in the beginnings of forming on my jaw, his mind instantly took in my appearance and fit the puzzle pieces together. "He hit you."

It was more of a statement than a question as he walked over and glared hard at the injury, lightly running his fingers over it. I winced at the action and so he retracted his hand. "I'll be fine," I brushed him off, "though I probably won't be able to talk in a few minutes when it finally swells, but that's not important. You didn't answer my question. Where is she?"

He canted his head back towards the hatch and gazed hard at it. "I'll get her back," he returned his attention to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, "I promise you. I will save her."

I gazed confused and fearfully at him, not understand what he meant, but his tone said it all. She was why he was so scared. Before I could ask what had happened Scannell spoke up, "They're out there!? In the escape pod!? Are they insane, that'll shoot straight into the sun. You can't save them now!"

The Doctor misdirected his rage toward the other man, who shiver at the storm brewing in his eyes. Glowering at him as he ripped the orange suit away from Scannell, "I will save them!"

Shoving his legs into the jumpsuit he slipped into the arms and zipped it up before grabbing the metal torso containing his air supply, pulling it over his head to clip it firmly in place. Grabbing the thick black boots and gloves from the engineer he slid them on, sealing them up tight, strapping everything on. I looked away holding fast to the strap on my bag. Having must felt my anxiousness and fear the Doctor gripped my hand, pulling it away from it's spot. "I'm going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine, I promise."

"_Everything is going to be fine, I promise," The man with the steel eyes swore as he leaned closer to my face. A sad smile crossed his features as he placed his hand to my temples right as an explosion ripped behind him rocking the room. Screaming and gunfire echoed from the battle field outside the TARDIS while fire continued to rain down from above. He opened his mouth to go on._ I flinched as the memory popped up unbidden and disappeared before he could finish the rest of his sentence. The Doctor could see the confusion and sadness welling up in my eyes but there were more pressing matter to attend to than my past wounds.

"I can't let you do this," the other man interjected. "You're wasting your breath Scannell," the Doctor frowned, strapping in the harness over his suit, "You're not gonna stop me."

"You wanna open an airlock, in flight, on a ship spinning into the sun. No-one can survive that!"

"Oh, just you watch."

"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you." The man argued, trying to get him to reconsider. Unfortunately once the Doctor had made up his mind there wasn't much one could do to dissuade him, especially when it came to those he cared for. "If I can breach the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should re-magnetize the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."

"Doctor, will you listen! They're too far away, it's too late!"

Grabbing the helmet the Doctor shook his head, "I'm not gonna lose her."

Completing his outfit, and strapping the headpiece firmly to his air supply, he walked over to the airlock which slid open at his approach. With an intense determined step he disappeared into the room, the door sealing shut behind him. The computer alerted us of his progress, "Decompression, initiating."

It then sent out another warning, "Impact in 12.55."

I stared at where the Doctor had vanished to, hoping he would keep his promise. People had always let me down before. Smacking my shoulder, and thrusting me out of my head, Scannell motioned for me to move over to the bulkhead. "Grab that clamp and stick it onto the door."

I hesitated before getting my head into the game, "O-of course. Right."

Scurrying forward I scooped the clamp off the ground and fastened it to the bulkhead with a loud bolt. Picking up the computer box a question flashed across the screen. He read it out loud. "What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes and yet never grows?"

Scannell stared at the computer dubiously, "Seriously! A riddle!? Who put this in here!?"

"A mountain," I quickly answered. He regarded me with doubt, "really?"

I smiled, "Yep! It's from _The Hobbit_. I'm guessing someone on your crew was a Tolkien fan."

"Apparently so are you since you know the answer," he quipped, snorting as he input the response. The machine beeped as the door loudly slid open as the computer called out with an update, "Impact in 11.15. Heat shield failing. At ten percent."

Jumping up Scannell quickly moved to the next corridor, pulling me along by the line attached to the clamp. Fastening it the next door he quickly answered the next question, not bothering to even speak it out loud. I was guessing it was one of his. Instead for running straight to the next bulkhead he moved over to an intercom panel and pressed one of the call buttons, "Doctor! How're you doing?"

A second later his struggling voice belted out of the speaker, "I can't! I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last!"

Scannell hit the button again, "Come on! Don't give up now!"

"You can do it Doctor," I insisted, "If anyone can it's you!"

It was at that time McDonnell appeared, heaving as she scanned us from head to toe. "Well go on," she said, grabbing the clamp out of my hand, "we need to keep moving. So no more standing around."

"Since you only need two I'm going to go wait for the Doctor by the air lock, call if you need help," I informed running back from where we had been. No one protested, not that it would've stopped me. Sprinting down the corridor and over to the small window I watched as the pod slowly made it's way back to the ship. Letting me know the Doctor had succeeded. The man himself struggled to pull himself back into the hatch as he fell to the safety of the floor. Though he was still exposed to the vacuum of space, I knew he'd be fine as he had plenty of air, except something seemed off. I couldn't figure out what it was but something was wrong. The hatch re-closed behind him as the pod traveled closer. I jumped back as the airlock opened and he stumbled back in, falling face first into the floor as he shucked the helmet off.

"Doctor are you alright?" I asked rushing down to his side, placing a hand on his back. He flinched and pushed forward before falling back down, writhing in pain, "No! Don't!"

I followed after him, eyes scanning his suit for some injury or tear but spotted nothing that explained his agony. Except, a terrible thought had popped into my head, _He's infected, but how? _I stared in panic. How was I to fix him, I wasn't some genius, hell he was and even he didn't know how to stop it. The computer, like always, rang out un-wanted, "Impact in 8. 57. Airlock re-compression completed."

"Doctor! Doctor!" Martha called out excitedly entering the corridor. Upon noticing him on his hands and knees her face fell and she rushed over next to me. "Are you OK?"

She flipped him onto his back to reveal his face scrunched in agony and eyes squeezed shut. He convulsed in pain and shuffled back, his eyes opened and light shot fourth, "Stay away from me!"

Everybody jumped up and backed away just as McDonnell appeared next to Riley, leaning on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath, "What's happened?"

"He's infected." I stated weakly. Watching him with growing worry that I would find myself with another broken promise. One that I couldn't live with.

"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" He growled in pain, still retaining his own voice, somehow keeping the infection at bay. The captain flinched in shock but hastily regained her composure and addressed her crew-mate, somehow staying on point, "Riley! Get down to area 10 and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"

Looking back and fourth between the situations he made a decision and nodded his head, following her order. Backing up to the wall the Doctor gripped the pipe next to him, screwing his eyes shut as he shouted at the captain between bursts of pain. "You mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"

She shook her head, "I don't understand."

"Doctor, what are you talking about?!" Martha shouted exasperatedly, wondering what the hell was going on. He cried out trying to fight off the pain and remain in control, "That sun is alive! A living organism! They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!"

I swallowed as something clicked in my head. "It said they had stole it," I murmured to myself.

"What?!" Martha exclaimed. I turned to her surprised she had hear me. "Korwin," I admitted, "I had asked him why he was killing people and sabotaging the ship, but I don't think it was him answering. It must have been the sun."

"What do you mean?" McDonnell asked panicking at the concept, "How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?! Why are you so quick to believe him? Why didn't you tell me about Korwin!"

"Because it's living in me," the Doctor growled, moving his head back and fourth, riling against the force trying to overtake him. The captain backed away, bringing her hands to her mouth as she finally got why her husband had blamed her, at what she had done, "Oh my god…"

"Humans!" the Doctor shouted with contempt, screaming the last part in torment and suffering, "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! Gah! You should have scanned!"

"It takes too long! We'd be caught! Fusion scoops are illegal."

He convulsed, falling to the side. "Gahhh! Ah! You've got to freeze me, quickly!"

"What!?" Martha and I had shouted in disbelief at the same time. Quickly moving forward she took hold of his arm, righting him. "Stasis chamber! You gotta keep me…below minus 200. Freeze it out of me!"

He screamed cutting off the next part of his sentence. Martha turned to glare at the captain in disgust, about ready to tell her off when the Doctor cried out. "It'll use me to kill you if you don't! The closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gahh," he wailed in agony as it tried to overcome him, "gets! Med-centre! Quickly! Quickly!"

Martha tried hefting him as she screamed an order at the captain, "Help me!"

Jolting forward she grabbed his free arm and carted him up. "Echo grab his legs, we'll be able to move fast if you do," Martha stated. Jumping into action I grab both his feet and we all carried him forward. Running awkwardly down the hallway as he moaned in pain. The computer, ever so helpful, called out, "Impact in, 7.30."

* * *

><p>As we approached the med-center the Doctor seemed to be fairing worse. He screamed and writhed just as we broke through the plastic sheeting of the room. Quickly, and with urgency, we hefted him over to the stasis bed but Martha let go to rush over to grab the instruction manual on a medical tray. Gently I brought his legs back to the ground as he hunched over, managing to stand as McDonnell held him. Reaching out with his free hand he blindly searched for our medical friend, "Martha, where are you?!"<p>

"It's alright! I'm here," she assured him, hastily scurrying back to his side, "It's me! Here I am! Stasis chamber, minus 200, yeah?"

Quickly helping him up, we lifted him onto the bed. McDonnell shouted at us, trying to be the voice of reason, "No, you don't know how this equipment works! You'll kill him! Nobody can survive those temperatures!"

Martha grunted as she flipped him over onto his back, "He's not human! If he says he can survive, then he can."

"Let me help you then!" she begged on the other side of the bed. Martha, full of quiet anger, glared her away, "You've done enough damage."

Flipping through the black lamented pages of instructions she scanned over the information, quickly looking up how to operate the machinery. All the while I held fast to one of the Doctor's hands with both of mine, the only thing I could think of to comfort him as he wormed around in pain. He shook as he squeezed back, latching on as if my grip were a life line.

"Ten seconds. That's all I'll be able to take. No more," he screamed as another bout of pain wracked his body, "Ah, gah-ah! Martha!"

"Yeah?"

He started choking on his own spit as he cried out in pain. Shaking his head back and fourth he seized and shouted. "It's burning me up. I can't control it. If you don't get rid of it," his voice lowered darkly, as if the other entity was slipping through, "I could kill you. I could kill you all."

Before we had time to worry about him having lost the fight with the sun he broke free of it's influence with a holler of torment. His face scrunched up even further as he squeezed my hand harder. Genuinely frightened, he sounded almost childlike as he cried, "I'm scared! I'm so scared!"

"Just…," Martha stuttered, at a loss for words, never having seen him like that, "stay calm. You saved me, now I return the favor. Just…just believe in me."

"It's gonna be OK Doctor," I murmured gently bringing his hand to my mouth, placing a comforting kiss upon it as I tried not to cry, "We're right here," I choked out, "Martha's going to fix this."

"It's bloody killing me!" he shouted gripping my hand even harder causing me to wince, though I dare not take it from him even as it screamed at me to do so, "Then what'll happen?!"

Martha rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "That's enough! I've got you. We've got you," she corrected. His barriers finally shattered as he couldn't keep them up anymore, battling with another sentience inside him took to much for him to keep it up. I could feel his cold terror and panic engulf me, his pain almost choking me at how strong it was.

"There's this process. This…this thing…that happens…if I'm about to die," he tried to inform her, spit flying with his words as he tried to stay above the pain. Moving closer I placed my other hand on his arm, rubbing my thumb back and fourth over it, "You're not going to have to worry about that because everything's going to be fine. Do you hear me? Everything's going to be fine."

"Shhh…," Martha cooed softly, "quiet now. Cause that is not gonna happen. You ready?"

"Cht-No! Gah." he whimpered. Upset she moved off to the side, hands poised around the joysticks on the controls. Peering down at my hand she shot me a quick look. I nodded understanding. "Doctor," I chimed gently, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to let go of my hand. Martha's about to send you in, but I'll be right outside."

He shook his head back and fourth with a childlike whine, "No."

That one little word almost had me to tears. He was so scared, but I had to let go. I stared down at him conflicted, not wanting to make him go through it alone, but if he didn't let go she couldn't push him in. "Doctor, I really really am sorry but you have too. We can't put you in if you don't. I promise you, I'll be right here."

With a tormented cry he pried his fingers away from mine with great effort. The second he did so Martha pushed the stick forward, sending him through. When he was fully in the tube she moved over to the control panel and typed in a couple numbers on the pad. With a loud hum the machine sprung to life and the worst sound I ever heard in all my years squeezed hard at my hearts. Helplessly I had to listen, leaning against the machine for support against the onslaught of heightened emotions stabbing me like a knife to the gut emanating out of him, as he screamed. It was loud and continuos, growing in strength the colder the temperature dropped in the stasis chamber. He writhed and seized as frost began accumulating on his skin, growing like fast moss across his face. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep from crying with a shuddering sob at his frantic terror and magnified pain that kept flashing across my mind. It took all I had not to stop the process. Except something went wrong.

The machine suddenly powered down the minute it hit minus seventy degrees. My eyes shot open with shock as the Doctor whimpered from inside the chamber. The ice crystals cracked as he moved with a shout, "No! Martha you can't stop it! Not yet!"

She gasped staring confused at the black screen, empty of it's earlier reading. "What's happened?!"

"Power's been cut in engineering," the captain deduced, turning towards the door.

"But who's down there?!" Martha exasperated with an angry hand gesture. My eyes widened as I looked at McDonnell. Only one person was down there and they were supposed to be dead. Her eyes shifted to mine, telling me she knew full well the answer having worked it out, "Leave it to me."

Rushing out of the room before I could protest, she quickly sped down the corridor, the plastic sheeting flapping back and fourth at her departure. The Doctor bellowed out another cry of pain, screaming and riling against the heat returning inside him. The computer, ever so diligent, spoke in the background, "Impact in 4.47."

Martha, not willing to give up and admit defeat, fiddled with the controls, trying on her own to get it up and running again. Except without power it was a useless effort. She kicked the machine in frustration as she gazed at the Doctor. Inside she noticed the ice quickly evaporating. Returning back to the keyboard she attempted to type and override the power system, only she wasn't a hacker so it produced no results. "Come on," she shouted abuse at the controls, "You're defrosting."

"Martha! Echo! Listen," he called out from inside the chamber as we cluttered around the entrance, all evidence of frost no longer evident on his face, "I've only got a moment. You've gotta go!"

"No way!" she shouted. "I won't," I quickly protested. I had made a promise. He wouldn't be alone. No one should be alone when they're scared and hurting.

"Get to the front!" he argued, "Vent the engines! Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them!"

"I am not leaving you!" Martha insisted. I shook my head in agreement, "Me neither."

"Gah," he shouted, arching off the bed in agony, "You've got to! Give back what they took!"

"Doctor!" she shouted in panic, looking on helpless as she watched his body thrash and struggle with an unseen firestorm. He screamed at a particular nasty inner assault, "Please! Go!"

She hesitated wanting to move forward, conflicted on how to proceed, but eventually surrender to his will. Turning on foot she race out the door, "I'll be back for you!"

"Impact in 4.08."

I didn't follow after her. I always kept my promises. The Doctor shifted around in the tube breathing heavily through the pain. "Echo!"

"Yes," I answered, leaning tiredly against then machine. Twisting around in the tube, he flipped himself around and spilled out onto the floor, "You have to leave to. You have to leave before I kill you!"

"You won't! Korwin didn't and neither will you."

"Why," he cried in another bout of pain as he attempted to stand, "why didn't heeee-"

With another stab of agony he fell forward, only that time, due our proximity, he took me down with him. With a smack I landed on my back as he fell on top of me, his hands gripping my arms tightly as he tried to curl in on himself with a scream, his head hid in the crook of my neck. His sweat dripped onto my exposed nape as I tried to articulate my next sentence. Somewhere in the back of my mind our closeness unnerved and made me uncomfortable, as a strange new feeling tried to make its presence known. Though it never fully surfaced as the computer called out reminding me that time was limited, "Impact in 3.43."

Quickly hypothesizing why I went mostly unscathed I stuttered out an answer, "I-I was burning with autron energy. It must have thought I was either family or already infected."

"But you're not now!" he cried attempting to push himself back up only to fail, "There's no guarantee it'll work a second time!"

"And there's no guarantee it won't!" I argued, vehemently trying to stay with him, not wanting to be that person that left when things hit the fan. "Please, please," he begged, crying into my shoulder, "You have to leave me!"

I stood firmly behind my decision and defiantly shook my head with a hard, "No."

"Then I'm sorry."

I furrowed my brows in confusion, "What do you mea-"

I realized it before I felt it. His hand slipped across my bare skin with a tingling sensation, over the divot on my left shoulder, hovering, for only a moment, on a nerve cluster. Had I not read that biology book I wouldn't have known what he was attempting to do, that timelords were extremely vulnerable in that spot. A hard blow there could disable them, knocking them into unconsciousness or worse if pressure was applied to long. My eyes widened, and before I had the chance to push him away he jabbed down hard onto it. And, once again, with a fleeting shout, I discovered myself engulfed into darkness.

* * *

><p><em>I found myself back in the overpowering land of white. It's harsh cold biting at my toes could no longer be felt as my skin crack, and, as in some cases, colored the snow with red as it opened the flesh like a macabre flower in bloom. My tears, since frozen to my face, had stopped as my cries and whimpers had went unheard. Though they had long since died as I no longer had any voice left in which to cry with. Just sad noiseless sobbing.<em>

_I stumbled along a large path, having wandered from the forest in search of caretakers, eyes unfocused ahead of me as my breaths became shorter and shorter, laboring to blow puffs of white into the sharp air. My eyes began to droop trying to convince me to sleep, that a little rest would be good. The white fluff pushed to the side appeared so inviting. Enticing me to take a nap. And I was so tired._

_My legs, that had since become numb, tripped over each other and I fell hard and fast to the ground. I tried to cry, to wail in pain, but I could only manage silent shuttering sobs. My hands, that tried to grasp the snow, could no longer work, to cold to bend or open fully. My breath started slowing down, my eyes fluttered uselessly to stay open as sleep tried to overtake me. I was dying and my younger self knew that. Knew that if I gave into sleep I'd never wake up. But I was to tired to fight it any longer._

_So as my vision began to tunnel, moving father and farther away, a voice worriedly called out as hurried high heeled boot's skid into view. Suddenly, I found myself flying, only to discover, as hot warmth stung and caressed my skin, that I had been picked up. My eyes struggled to stay open as the owner of the heat peered down at me, their golden ringlet of curls framed their face like the sun, the curls like rays that gleamed as the light briefly broke through the storm. Her face contorted in sorrow and a familiar knowledge, as if she knew, knew things that had happened, that would happen, as if she may have known me personally flashed across her green eyes. But How? A rueful smile made it's way across her features as if she had heard the unspoken question. "Spoilers sweetie."_

With a shuttering breath I blinked awake to an odd ceiling in an unfamiliar place. A red flowy fish stared down at me with a couple of his more colorful friends joining him. I eyed them dubiously, "Why is the ceiling an aquarium?"

"I'm guessing the TARDIS thought you'd like it. It's your bedroom after all."

I jolted upright quickly, sending the navy silk comforter falling off my shoulders and pooling around my lap as I sat up. My mind raced, to busy to notice my change of clothes or anything else for that matter. The Doctor sat on the other side of the room, arms resting languidly on the antique Victorian chair as he stared blankly, across from the large circular bed I found myself in. I glared at his impassive face, "You rat bastard. You knocked me out!"

"And you didn't listen!" he hollered right back, jumping out of his chair. His emotions were well hidden beneath his usual wall, stopping me from ascertaining anything other than he was upset, though something seemed off. He was almost eager, yet hesitant. But at that moment I couldn't have cared less. Keeping my voice tight and even I quipped right back, "And neither did you."

He stalked forward to the edge of the bed, a tick forming in his jaw as he ground out a response, "When I give you an order you follow it. You don't disregard it!"

"And you're not always right," I clipped, leaning up on my knees to gain some height advantage. There was a nagging feeling poking in the back of my head trying to gain my attention but I was to angry to pay it any due diligence. His sharp eyes cut across me, boring deep into my soul, and for a moment I briefly reconsidered forming an apology and surrendering. That was until he opened his big fat mouth. "And you're a child who's trying to pass as an adult thinking they have all the answers, throwing themselves needlessly in harms way when no one asked them to! One who hides behind secrets because they think it makes them strong to fix things on their own when in fact asking for help is what makes a strong person!"

"Oh screw you!" I screamed, pointing violently at him, "How dare you yell at me for doing things you do as well! You keep secrets all the time, am I not entitled to a few of my own!"

"Not when you're on my ship!" he bellowed out, his hands balling into tight fists at his side. I scoffed loudly, "Oh, you are SUCH a hypocrite!"

"And your a child," he brusquely stated. I rolled my eyes and laughed hollowly. "Oh, is that all you have, I mean you've been around for how long and you haven't learned how to better.…fight….you should be very-you're not really trying very hard….meaning," a look of realization crossed my face as I took in his awkwardly forced stance, "Oh my god! You're purposely badgered me! You jerk!"

"I assure you, I am indeed very cross with you-"

"Don't bullshit me," I cut him off, folding my arms across my chest reprimandingly, "I know when some one's trying to get a rise out of me I just don't know why your doing it, but you better stop it."

He faltered, trying to keep up the ruse and the angry mask plastered across his face going but the jig was already up. Glaring at him through squinted eyes I continued on. "I mean, you're good. You certainly knew all the right buttons to push, I'll give you that. You're the only other person beside Ali that can so easily get under my…." I trailed off before frowning when a thought flitted across my mind. Quickly I moved to pat my pockets when I finally noticed the new clothes. A long white and blue striped buttoned gown stared back up at me teasingly. I looked back up at the Doctor, "I'm in a night gown. Where are my clothes?"

He stuttered, his act shattering as he flustered at the implications he thought were racing through my head, "D-don't worry, I didn't-Martha's the one who changed you. I didn't see anything."

I blinked, "I hadn't even considered that, but glad to know you wouldn't take advantage of my unconscious state. No, I was getting on about the fact that my phone is no longer with me and since it's recent update….," I snapped my fingers together, "Oh! Oh! You called her didn't you! Oh, come on! Now my friends are conspiring against me with each other. Is there no such thing as privacy anymore!"

He tugged at his ear knowing what he did had been wrong, but he didn't apologize for it. Clearing his throat he rubbed his neck, "Weelll, I didn't call her so much as pick up. And after a nice chat she gave me some advice on how to…"

"On how to what?" I asked raising an eyebrow, daring him to finish that sentence. He wiggled an exasperated hand at me, "On how to handle you."

I ran a hand down my face, "Oh god, she didn't give you the manual did she."

"You came with a manual?"

"No, I didn't come with a manual," I petulantly mocked, rolling my eyes with a pout, "Don't be stupid. Ali made one as a gag that ended up going to far and don't even think about asking for it. I'm all but sure I've destroyed every copy."

Seeing a calculating look cross his features, no doubt figuring out a way to get a hold of one of those manuals, I quickly shifted gears and moved to my original concern and interrupt his thought process. "But let's not focus on that. No. Why go to such theatrics any way."

"It may have come up in conversation with your best friend that you were being secretive and she suggest on how to get a straight answer as the direct approach won't necessarily work with you."

With a groan I fell back into the comfy mattress, bouncing a bit as it settled from the action. "Of course. Why is everybody being so nosy today. First Martha, now you-"

"So even Martha noticed your change in behavior?"

I jolted back into a sitting position, "What change in behavior!? I'm the same as I always am!"

"Now you and I both know that's not true. I haven't said anything because I thought you'd eventually bring it up yourself but clearly I was wrong there. When I asked if you were alright after the party at Lazurus Laboratories I knew something was bothering you and ever since you've been very jumpy. So what happened? Did someone threaten you?"

By some miracle I managed not to flinch and reveal my cards, thankfully I had been prepared for that question as living with him I'd surmised at some point he'd ask it. My continued adventuring depended upon my act of deceit. I scoffed crossing my arms, "No."

His face darkened slightly at his next question, "Did someone hurt you?"

Again I answered exasperatedly, "No. Now can we stop. Nothing is wrong with me!"

Apparently stop wasn't a word in his repertoire as he continued on, disregarding my statement. His intense gaze never wavered as he watched my every reaction, felt my every emotion; using it as an invasive cheat sheet. "Are you having a-a…._lady _issue?"

"Oh my god, what is this twenty question?! No, nothing happened to me. I'm not having a," I pulled up the air quotations, "_Lady issue_. And I if were I'd not discus them with you. That's what the library is for."

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Well what is it then!? Why have you been acting off!? Did you remember something or-"

I accidentally froze as he hit the one of the proverbial nails on the head, one I didn't think he'd ever ask, and my thoughts went completely still. He sucked in a breath of air as our stupid biology betrayed me once again and he felt my panic. "You did, didn't you? Oh, Echo," his face melted into a gentle sympathy, "why didn't you say something sooner?"

Grabbing the comforter I pulled it over my head and hid underneath it, "Nnope. No. Not going there because there's nothing to say. I didn't remember anything. Now goodnight."

"Echo," he called out softly, as I heard him draw closer. Wiggling more to the middle of the bed I shooed him off, "Go away. I said goodnight."

"Echo."

"No, just leave me alone. I'm going to bed."

The mattress dipped and I held my breath, willing him to leave the room as I pulled the silk tighter around me. To just let things be. Unfortunately he gave no such reprieve. "Talk to me."

"No."

Like a petulant child I shuffled away towards the other side bringing the blanket with me. The only barrier between him and me. Only he wouldn't allow that. With a swift movement he wrenched the item away but I managed to quickly catch the end of it. Hastily, I tried to wrestle it from him but he was hard fast to not let go, so I stood up to gain leverage. "Let go of the blankets old man!"

Like a battle of tug O' war he pulled back almost sending me careening forward, "Echo we need to talk about this."

"No. We. Don't," I clenched between teeth yanking the blanket back towards me, only he stood up and grabbed purchase of the comforter just in time. I growled in frustration. Trying to step back I used all my weight to retrieve my cover, "_You_ just _want_ to talk about it! _We_ don't _need _to TALK about anything."

"Why are you so stubborn! Just talk to me!"

"No! Never!" I shouted, desperate to run away from the conversation and hide. Though why I didn't just run out the door never seemed to cross my mind at the time.

"Echo!"

"Nno!"

Using the same trick I used at all the wellness days, I was forced to attend at high school, I slackened my pull on the blanket, letting him stumble back a bit in attempting to adjust, before ripping it quickly back to me in that small moment of weakness. In an instant he lost his footing, which had the unintended consequence of sending me flying back onto the bed, his lean body following me down, trapping me underneath him. A bit out of breath from the tussle, I gazed up at him, his eyes leaving me no where to run as his face hovered so close to mine. And he wasn't about to move anytime soon either. "Please Echo, this isn't something you should keep to yourself. You can't run from your past. Trust me I know this more than anyone."

He stared down imploringly, the years of personal hardship and pain shinning through, and I swallowed in defeat, one day I'd learn how to say no to that look but it wouldn't be that day. "….I remember how I ended up on the side of the road as a toddler. How I was found in a blizzard."

For a moment his eyes widened in shock as his brow furrowed in a mixture of pity and empathy, reading the hidden subtext, "The time war...I'm sorry I shouldn't have…"

"Pried, intruded, insisted," I offered up for the end of his sentence, "because you got eager for the company of another timelord? Or a like timelord to be more accurate."

Appearing guilty and uncomfortable all at the same time he leaned up to sit, only he hadn't realized he moved into a straddling position. Something I myself was choosing to forget. He ran a hand down his face with a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry."

"You should be, but I understand you're motive," I stated before trying to lighten a tense atmosphere, "Though I will get Ali and you back for conspiring. Granted in a funny unexpected way."

He smirked, a twinkle of mirth dancing behind those chocolate orbs, before the focused in on my face. He traced a line over my previous injury as he frowned with concern. "How is your jaw feeling?"

"I was going to ask about that, I'm surprised it's not swollen to hell. It actually feels quite fine."

"That would be the Talurean Vaxel weed," he prattled off, "Turn it into a paste and it can heal most things in minutes. Well, except for missing body parts. For that there's this really fascinating worm that-"

"Ahem!"

Quickly shooting our heads to the open doorway Martha stood in the archway, arms crossed over her chest. She looked about ready to blow a fuse, though she hid it well. Her accusing eyes fell to me then shifted over to him, "So what is this? The equivalent of Timelord foreplay?"

Seeing an opportunity to get back at at-least one of my friends, and hopefully clear up the situation with the other, I sent Martha a wink and an eyebrow wiggle. Hoping she took the hint. "Yes it is Martha, help! He's trying to ravish me."

"W-what!? No I'm not!" he turned to Martha standing in the doorway as he jumped back onto his hind quarters and stumbled backward; appalled by the accusation, "I'm not! Really!? I don't know why she-I'm not."

If I were Martha I'd probably be offended by his immediate disgust, but I wasn't most women. I didn't really see the point in getting upset over something so trivial as guys. Though his response did seem to eradicate her earlier anger as she reviewed the scene a second time and noticed, to her relief, that she mistook the atmosphere. Her eyes flicked over to me and I mouthed for her to _play along. _She tried not to smile and returned to her upset look, though it was mostly for show. "Really because she is in her nightie."

"Yeah Doctor, I'm in my _nightie_," I agreed, poking fun. He sputtered in disbelief not knowing how to handle the situation; after all he thought the whole no female seduction was made quite clear at the beginning of the trip. Flustering at the accusation of impropriety he defended himself, "Wh-you-Martha you're the one who dressed her!"

"But you're in her bed," she countered. I nodded my head at the fact, "This is also true."

He growled in frustration and mussed up his hair rubbing his hands through it, "Yes, but there's an honest explanation for that-"

"And you were on top of her in a pretty compromising position," Martha added with light taunt. I ooed with a playful jibe of my own to really send it home, "She does make a point. Huh! Is this what you do? Bring innocent unsuspecting ladies into your TARDIS so you can have your way with them. Oh Doctor you rake!"

"What!?" his voice pitched as his mouth floundered, "I-I would never-I don't-oh stop it you two! I'll be having none of this, I made my self quite clear on this subject at the beginning of our trip."

I smiled at his angry flustering and for a moment the word adorable danced across my mind till I quickly trashed the thought. I'd be having none of that. "Alright, I think he's had enough," I patted his knee affectionately before I slid off the mattress, "Next time stop doesn't mean go."

"What!?"

I raised a delicate eyebrow to his shrill query. "I told you I'd get you back, weren't you listening? I never exactly put a time table on it."

Without waiting for a response I speed walked out of my room, I'd have to appreciate and explore it later, and hooked my elbow with Martha's; dragging her along. I took a quick look behind to see if we were being followed, but found the hallway behind us had changed; bringing us to a new locale. I do love a nifty TARDIS. Martha chuckled next to me. "Did you see his face! Oh, it was priceless."

"I did," I smiled, giving her a playful bump of my hip, "and thank you for playing along and saving me."

Her eyes snapped to me with a wicked glint to her eye as she tried not to laugh, "Who said I was playing."

Blinking a few times at the jest I broke into a cheshire cat grin. "You are so bad."

* * *

><p>NEXT EPISODE: Will either be <em>In the Red <em>or_ The Angle's have the Phone Box. _

Which ever I'm more inclined to write when I finish a chapter or two of my Sherlock fanfic :D The Reason I'm skipping Human nature is because Echo would get them all killed, one she can't chameleon arch because of her current condition and two they would smell her if they didn't; so conclusion they'd all die. In my mind Blink seemed to be an ambiguous episode that could have happened at anytime, after Martha was a permanent fixture upon the TARDIS, so I will be going with that first before the big things I have in store that will be going down in two or three chapters. :)


End file.
